


Longing for Home

by IsiloAranel



Series: Home is Within You [1]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Brings the war to the front, Confident Sebastian, I love epigraphs, Implied Sexual Content, Music Lyrics Galore, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Stardew Valley Expanded, Startup Lore Change, Sticking it to Joja, This is a slow burn right, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:00:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 79,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25825525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsiloAranel/pseuds/IsiloAranel
Summary: With the tensions and eventual war between the Ferngill Republic and the Gotoro Empire, Eva Lang found herself unable to return home. She made the best of it, setting aside her dream career for the lucrative job at Joja Corporation. But the successful life she had built came crashing down, thanks to Morris, leaving Eva scrambling. She finds herself as the owner of Mistwood Farm in Pelican Town as she struggles to make sense of the world that has little love for a Gotoran, worries about her father serving in the Imperial military, and tries to settle into a new life in the small town. Along they way, she vows revenge on Morris and his Joja Corp backed plans for the valley town she starts to call home.
Relationships: Sebastian (Stardew Valley)/Original Character(s), Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Player (Stardew Valley)
Series: Home is Within You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968367
Comments: 39
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

>   
>  So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”  
>  ― Herman Hesse, Bäume. Betrachtungen und Gedichte  
> 

The weather that morning had brought more rain, rain that was halfway between actual rain and a drizzling mist. Enough rain to need windshield wipers, but not enough to leave them on, even on the lowest speed. Eva flicked on her wipers for what felt like the hundredth time, trying not to huff in annoyance. She reached down to switch the radio from the news station to another channel, then another, until she found a station playing music. Her car speakers thrummed out a pop song as she tapped her fingernails against the steering wheel along with the beat.

_If you were Dracula  
Are you ready to take that bite?  
Hot and hazardous  
Like playing with dynamite_

Traffic before her was at a standstill. She peered through the watery glare of neon lights and flashing digital billboards to find that the protests had only gained momentum, despite the weather. The sidewalks on both sides of the street were packed with yelling people waving signs in the air. Some were protesting the war with the Gotoro Empire, the island nation to the south. Others just seemed to be protesting for random things. Wartime taxes, one political party or another, inflation, immigration. Eva read one sign nearest her lane -- “GO BACK TO GOTORO, GOONS” -- and scowled at the man holding it. He couldn’t see her through her car’s tinted windows, of course. Thankfully, traffic began to creep forward and she was soon able to leave the mass of unrest behind.

Eva soon pulled into the blue painted parking garage of Joja Corp. A swipe of her employee badge lifted the gate with a cheerful “Good morning and welcome back to Joja Corp!” from the crackling speaker. Eva rolled her eyes at the greeting, as she did every morning she bothered to notice it. She stopped in front of the valet station and pressed the button on the dash to open the gullwing doors of her car. Eva climbed out, smiling at the valet coming towards her. “Morning, Eddie. How’s the baby?” she said in her crisp accent.

Eddie smiled back, his dark mustache twitching with the expression. “Oh, Miss Lang, she’s doing well. Took her to the doctor yesterday for a check-up, and she’s gained nearly two pounds already.”

“I want to see pictures,” Eva insisted as they passed one another. Then, she slowed, turning to call to him, “Can you pull my car out around 1:15 and have it ready?”

Eddie lowered himself into her white sports car. “Can do, Miss Lang. What’s Joja gonna own after today?”

“I’m sure a lot of new things,” Eva answered in a cheerful tone, waving at the valet as she stepped into the elevator. As the doors slid shut, her smile slipped and she muttered to herself, “A lot of new things.” Eva tucked herself into the corner and watched the concrete walls slip by as the elevator car moved up. After a few floors, the walls fell away, and Eva could see the sprawl of Zuzu City around Joja Corp headquarters. She leaned her head against the glass, looking out over the glittering skyline. Eva could pick out the Crux Prime Stadium, home of the Zuzu City Tunnelers, nestled between the two tallest buildings in the city. Skyreach Towers stood on the right and flashed silver in the watery morning light, with Liberty Spire opposite it glowing gold from the observation deck on top. Through the smog, she could just make out the silhouette of Pendulum Park, where her penthouse loft was located. 

The elevator slowed to a smooth stop and a feminine voice announced, “Floor forty-three.” Eva pushed away from the wall and strode out, her heels clicking across the short expanse of tile in front of the elevator before hitting the blue carpet that was on every floor in Joja headquarters. She passed the sea of open cubicles and workspaces to reach her office. It was small, barely more than a closet, but it was a corner office and at least it had windows. 

Eva lovingly touched a new bloom on the white orchid on her desk before setting her stuff down. “Morning, Stella,” she whispered to the plant. Eva had just sunk into her chair when two people rushed through her office door. She barely looked up from the file she had pulled toward her as she greeted them. “Morning, Jack, Macy.”

Jack had already rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. Eva doubted he’d even worn a tie to discard. “Hey, boss,” he said as he perched on the corner of her desk. Jack glanced at the woman at his side, who was pushing the orange fringe over her face behind one ear. Macy had apparently been serious when she said she was going to dye her blonde hair crayon orange the day before. Eva thought it looked good on her, even if it was against Joja Corp dress code. She was supposed to report infractions like Macy’s hair, even Jack’s “unprofessional attire and unkempt appearance”, but Eva had better things to do with her work day.

Noting their nervousness, Eva asked, “What is it?”

Macy answered, “You were late getting in. We were worried.”

“About the protests and… stuff,” Jack added with a wince. 

“I drove in,” Eva stated. “The protests caused a gridlock at 81st and Westin.”

Her two employees exchanged looks again. Jack took a deep breath. “It wasn’t just the protests. Some people… Some people found a Gotoran on the subway and beat him pretty bad. They had to shut down traffic to get him to the hospital.”

Eva sat back in her chair and rubbed her face, not looking at them. She had spent the past few months telling herself violence against Gotorans wouldn’t happen. The Ferngill Republic was different from Gotoro. People didn’t die in the streets. She had told herself she was worrying over nothing, that her father’s concerns were baseless.

“You should probably start driving in every morning, instead of taking the subway,” Macy said, breaking through Eva’s whirling thoughts and fears. “And maybe have your takeout delivered by that robot delivery service. Just until things calm down.”

“They won’t calm down until the war is over,” Eva stated. Even she was surprised by the steadiness in her voice. It was as if Jack and Macy had simply informed her of the rain that morning. “But, thank you for letting me know, and for being worried about me,” she said with a tone of finality. She gave them both a stern look when they didn’t leave. “Do you need more work?”

Macy spun on her heels, snapping a peppy “Nope!” before disappearing from Eva’s office. Jack stood from his perch on her desk corner, but lingered for a moment as Eva turned to her computer and logged in. “How are you holding up?” he asked softly. “I’m guessing you’ve got family over there?”

Eva punched in her passcode and waited for her computer to load. “Yeah. All the family I’ve got left is in Gotoro,” she answered. Then, she looked up at him and gave him a bright smile she certainly didn’t feel inside. “I’m fine. Things haven’t changed that much since this all started.”

Jack shrugged. “Yeah, but it was just political tensions and saber-rattling, then a territorial skirmish. Now it’s a full-out war.”

“Not much of a difference, really, when you’re stuck outside your own country,” Eva replied. She held up the file still in her lap. “I’ve got some things to finish up before I head out to Stardew Valley at 1:30,” she said in dismissal.

Jack grimaced, but turned toward her door. “Not sure how I feel about buying some old family farm for a bottling plant. You know, with the food shortages getting worse,” he said as he walked out. He paused in the doorway and added, “Actually, I don’t think I’m okay with it.” He looked at Eva. “Are you?”

“It’s business, Jack. We’re property procurement. I do my job. So should you,” she answered curtly, not looking up. She listened to him leave, closing her office door behind him, as she skimmed over the now familiar file. The property the company was looking to buy was located in a tiny rural town, Pelican Town, along the coast. The farm was known locally as Mistwood Farm. When it’s previous owner died without any heirs or known kin, ownership had passed to the town. The documentation in Eva’s hands stated that the land had been for sale for a little over a year without much interest. With the newest regulations and policies the Ferngill Republic had passed, small farms like Mistwood were struggling or going under completely. The market was not a good one to take on an abandoned farm in, apparently.

So, in swept Joja Corp to take it off the town’s hands, with Eva at the front.

Eva tossed the file back onto her desk and stood, moving to her windows. For a moment, all she could see was smog outside the glass and her faint reflection. Bright copper hair pinned up in a professional style, winged eyeliner around blue eyes, classic red lipstick, a simple white blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt, all painted on a backdrop of swirling smog. Before her brain could take hold and spin out some metaphor or allegory or some profound thought, a gust cleared the view, and Eva’s thoughts focused on the coastline instead. She could see P. Lander Military Base, with its airstrips and destroyer docks. A formation of fighter jets took off from one runway, and Eva watched them climb up into the clouds. “To tell the truth,” she said to her empty office. “I’m not okay. With any of it. I just want to go home.” Eva took in a deep breath, then returned to her desk. She pulled her phone from her purse and quickly typed out a short message.

_You okay? Love you Daddy._

Then, she got to work, knowing her 1:30 departure time would come too quickly for her to finish all her work before the weekend.

And, it did.

Her phone buzzed on her desk’s surface, announcing it was time to leave. She saw the brief message her father had sent back to her at some point during the day - I’m still here. Try not to worry about me. I’ll call you Sunday @ 1600 Republic time. Love you, Queenie. She smiled down at the message, then dropped her phone into her purse. Eva quickly packed up, stuffing the Mistwood Farm file into her purse, and made for the elevators. She wished Macy and Jack a good weekend on the way. After a few minutes of sinking city views, followed by a sudden rush of concrete walls, the doors opened into the parking garage, where Eddie was waiting with her car, gullwing door open for her. The valet had his phone out, pictures of his new daughter at the ready.

“She’s adorable,” Eva cooed at the picture. “Those chubby cheeks are the best!” She stood and listened to Eddie gush about parenthood for a few minutes, then thanked him for pulling her car out and pressed a tip into his hand. “Have a great weekend, Eddie!” she called as she rounded the front of her car. 

“Miss Lang,” Eddie called, holding up the restaurant gift card she’d slipped inside the bill she’d given him. “You accidentally gave me this.”

Eva smiled over her car’s low roof. “It wasn’t an accident. Take your wife out for dinner. I highly recommend their signature salmon dish.” She saw his confusion and laughed, adding, “Did you think I didn’t notice you detail my car every time I park it here? You earned that, Eddie!”

“Thank you, Miss Lang! You’re the best!” came Eddie’s voice as her door hissed closed. Eva grinned and then pulled onto the street, turning for the interstate that would take her to Stardew Valley. Soon, the grey of the city faded into the white siding and fake grass green grid of the suburbs, and after a while, the cookie-cutter houses were replaced by rolling hills and forests painted in autumn orange, red, and yellows. Eva set the car’s cruise control, turned up the radio’s volume, and settled in for the two hour drive to Pelican Town. 

The weather cleared as she turned off the interstate, the sun breaking through the clouds for the first time all day. Shafts of golden sunlight illuminated the fall foliage around the pothole dotted country highway that wound through the forest and around the hills toward Pelican Town. Eva had to lower her speed as her car rumbled over the uneven pavement. “All those taxes, and none are going to the county roads?” she muttered to herself as she dodged another broken section of road. Then pavement stopped completely, giving way to gravel, shortly after the exit for Grampleton and Eva had to slow down even more. She glanced at the car’s GPS, wondering if she was in the right place. According to the arrow and the interface, Pelican Town was not far, and was certainly in this direction.

Then, the hills to the left smoothed out and the oceanside town came into view. Eva quietly gasped and began smiling, slowing her car to a near crawl so she could take in the view. She silenced the radio and rolled her window down, letting the crisp salty air in. The ocean water was a pure, clear blue, and glittered in the afternoon sunlight. The town was quaint and small, nestled amongst the trees under a faint blanket of wood smoke from the houses’ chimneys. Rising up around the town and its little harbor were forest covered mountains. The whole scene looked like a postcard and gave off the same feeling as a warm cup of hot chocolate on a snowy day.

“It’s beautiful,” Eva breathed to herself. 

It was the kind of place she had always dreamed of finding herself in. A place that reminded her of her grandparents’ farm in Gotoro. A little town with plenty of open land, mostly undisturbed since antiquity. The perfect place for a young archaeologist to make discoveries. Eva sighed to herself as she drove into the town proper and parked beside the general store. Her days as an archaeologist and historian had been limited to almost zero, all because of the war that now kept her from returning to her home in Gotoro. Now, she used the knowledge she had learned at university not to secure grants and property permissions for digs, but to further widen the profit margin of a massive corporation. 

The sight of Mr. Morris, the regional manager for Joja Corp in Stardew Valley, snapped Eva out of her own thoughts. She was here to work. Eva turned off her car and grabbed the Mistwood Farm file she had spent weeks compiling back in her office, then stepped out, retrieving a small case from the backseat. Her heels clicked on the cobblestone as she approached the man she would have to work with today. 

She was not looking forward to it. 

Eva was grateful that another, much older, man, was walking up at that moment as well. It gave her the opportunity to ignore Morris for a few more minutes. “You must be Mayor Lewis,” Eva said, extending her hand to the man. Mayor Lewis shook her hand warmly, though his smile was forced and his eyes sad. “I’m Eva Lang, director of property procurement for Joja Corp. This is a beautiful town.”

Lewis perked up a bit at her compliment of the town. “Why, thank you. Yes, we love Pelican Town.”

Morris took that moment to weasel his way into the conversation. “Miss Lang, I know you’re very busy, so shall we get to business? The property in question is to the west of town. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a walk.”

“A walk is fine, Mr. Morris,” Eva said, grudgingly acknowledging the man. “It will give me time to hear more about the land. There are some things that can’t be found in official records, I’ve found.”

Morris straightened his lapels as they began to walk across the town square, falling into step beside Eva. “Of course, of course. Well, there’s not much else to know--”

Eva held her hand up to silence him. “I was actually hoping to hear from the mayor,” she said, slowing her pace to gain Lewis’ side. “Please, tell me about the property, Mayor Lewis. It was a farm, before?”

Lewis easily launched into a detailed and story filled history of Mistwood Farm, much to Morris’ obvious displeasure. As he spoke, the cobbled path turned into a packed dirt road lined with old wooden fences. Trees arched overhead to form a tunnel of autumn colors. Eva missed most of what Lewis said as she focused on her steps, not wanting to fall because her heels found a hole or slipped on the wet carpet of leaves covering the path. She caught the general details, though. Mistwood Farm had been owned by a man affectionately known as “Old Murph”, who had built the house that still stood there and worked the land for decades. Then, he’d grown ill or been injured somehow, Eva had been too focused on her footing to hear, and had begun selling the barn and outbuildings for reclaimed wood to pay the medical bills. Lewis said that Old Murph hadn’t lasted much longer after that. The farmer had outlived all of his relatives and his will had left the land to the town. That had been nearly ten years ago.

The trees ahead opened like a gateway to the hilltop farm at the end of the road. Lewis stopped a few steps onto the farmland and took a deep breath, clearly enjoying the view. Eva walked a little further, her eyes roaming over the landscape in front of her. The little farmhouse, while clearly in need of maintenance, was in better condition than she’d expected after a decade of sitting empty. It sat on a little hill, a winding river running along the far side of the rise. There were a number of smaller hills on the property, and Eva thought she could see a small pond glinting in the afternoon sun through the trees that had taken over the expansive fields and pastures. A gust of coastal wind rose and rustled the treetops around them, filling the air with a soothing rush and a vibrant confetti of leaves. The sound of the world moving around her stilled the anxieties and fears and worries she had kept buried deep inside for so many months and stirred up a feeling Eva had not felt in a long time. It was a feeling, a flutter, that seemed to come from within her soul. Eva wanted to close her eyes and let the wind sweep over her, wanted nothing more than to just stand and listen to the wind in the trees and the feeling building in her chest.

Morris broke the peaceful quiet of the scene with his voice. “I think this property is quite suitable for our needs, don’t you, Miss Lang? I think you’ll find all the specifications I sent regarding it matches what you see before you.” Eva turned to face him, managing to keep a scowl from wrinkling her face. Mayor Lewis was unable to do the same. Morris continued, “It has the water we would need for the bottling plant already on site. I think it’s perfect, if we can negotiate a better price.”

“Your company has millions,” grumbled Lewis. “I’ve already dropped the price multiple times. I won’t go lower.”

Eva chose to ignore them both. She looked back out over the property and squinted toward the pond. “Mayor Lewis, is there a history of that pond flooding during high rains?”

The mayor looked at her, an expression of slight confusion on his face. “The pond?”

Morris jumped in. “Oh, that won’t be an issue once we reroute the river--”

This time Eva did scowl at Joja’s Stardew Valley regional manager. “I know my accent may be difficult for some to understand, so I’ll give you a pass this time, Mr. Morris, but I was asking the mayor the question, not you.” She looked at Lewis and said, “Yes, the pond. Has it ever flooded?”

Lewis thought for a moment, tugging on one end of his grey mustache. “No, not that I’ve ever recalled in all my time here. Murph never had trouble with it, as far as I know.”

Eva nodded, turning back to the property before her. “I see,” she said, kneeling to set the case on the ground and opening it to reveal surveying equipment. She flipped open the file she had brought with her, and flipped through the pages within for a few moments. Then, turning to face Morris, she said, “I see that the water rights are missing from the documentation you sent, Mr. Morris. With the death of the previous owner, they cannot be transferred through a sale transaction. But, there is a possible problem. That pond could empty into an underground aquifer, which could then supply the wells of the surrounding farms. And, rerouting the river for a bottling facility would affect more than the water supply on this property. That would affect whether we are able to gain exclusive water rights for the property or not.” She stood, holding a land surveyor in her hand. A couple of clicks on the touch screen had the device scanning the property. Already the readings were telling her Morris’s property audit had short-changed the actual acreage.

“I’ll have a team look into it,” Morris said with a sly grin.

“No,” Eva snapped. Both men seemed shocked by her response. Eva moved to stand directly in front of Morris. “I want to hire an independent expert to assess this situation. There are regulations and laws to follow.” She crossed her arms and glared at Morris. “And you, Mr. Morris, have a reputation to play fast and loose with regulations. Like you’ve done with your drilling operation.”

Morris returned her glare. “That operation is perfectly legal,” he began. “Under initiative L61091--”

“I know the regulation, Mr. Morris,” Eva said, interrupting him. She stepped closer and leaned in, lowering her voice so only Morris could hear her. “That’s part of my job. It is also part of my job to know that causing two separate landslides on properties not owned by Joja Corporation is not in line with that regulation and could be cause for multiple lawsuits for damage. So, this time, we play by the book.” Then, she stepped back, holding Morris’s gaze with a harsh intensity. Lewis was looking at her, then Morris, then back again, clearly torn between enjoying the power struggle before him and feeling uncomfortable.

Morris blinked first and looked away. “May I ask why you’re here and not Mac?” he asked.

“He no longer works for the company,” Eva replied. “Maybe partly for his part in your drilling operations.” Eva quickly noted the adjustments to the property’s dimensions from the surveyor and then returned it to its case. Then, she gestured to the path that would lead back into the town proper and began walking. Both men hurried to follow her. “There is little to be settled on now, with the issue of the water rights in the air. I’ll be contacting a firm to investigate the pond and river within the next week. In the meantime, I’ll be doing further research into the environmental and real estate laws regarding such issues.”

Lewis spoke up, bounding forward a few steps to gain her side. “I might be able to suggest someone, someone local, if you’d like.” Eva nodded, stopping to pull a pen from the file she had carried with her and prepared to jot down the name. “His name is Demetrius Lautrec. He’s an environmentalist living here in Pelican Town, doing research. I’m sure he’d be happy to take the task on.” 

Eva copied the phone number the mayor gave her, then confirmed it with him. “Thank you, Mayor Lewis. I think that arrangement will serve everyone best.” Morris, standing behind them, scoffed at her words. Eva chose to ignore him once again. She leaned in to the mayor and said in a hushed voice, “Do not accept any offers from Morris or Joja until you have a notarized copy of the report and a formal statement regarding the water rights. For obvious reasons.”

“Of course, Miss Lang,” he answered with a wink and a repressed smile. “Thank you.” 

The three walked the rest of the way to town in silence. Eva’s eyes were drawn to the scenery around her as she walked toward her car, Morris and Lewis both calling good-byes to her and wishing her a safe drive back to Zuzu City. She barely answered them, soaking in the details of the town around her and knowing she would likely never have reason to return. For a reason she could not name, that thought hurt, as if she were homesick for a place she had just learned existed. Eva sighed and forced herself to look toward her car. 

Two young men were standing near it when she looked forward. They both appeared to be appreciating the vehicle, though the blonde one with the artfully messy hair was far more visibly enthusiastic about it than his dark haired friend. He was gesticulating so wildly that the skateboard under his arm clattered to the cobblestone beneath him. Eva could hear him exclaiming, “It’s even got gullwing doors, man! Those are the coolest!” The dark haired one just shook his head at his friend’s excitement and pulled a drag on the cigarette in his hand. He was taller than his friend, and was dressed head to toe in black. Eva found herself smiling as she walked toward them. He had all of her favorite weaknesses. Black skinny jeans, an emo swoosh hairstyle, stylish black boots -- thank Yoba they’re not combat boots -- and tastefully sized gauges. He turned as she approached and she recognized the print on the t-shirt he wore under his jacket as one of her favorite bands - an alternative rock band she’d fallen in love with during college. The blonde skater noticed her a moment later, almost bounding in place like an overly-excited puppy. “Is this your car?” he yelled at her.

Eva answered him by showing him the keys and hitting the autostart button on the fob. The car growled to life and the deep thrum of the subwoofers inside kicked on along with the radio. Another button press had the driver door slide up and open.

“Dude!” the skater cried, unable to keep himself in the same spot anymore. “That’s so awesome!”

Eva had reached them by that moment. “Thanks,” she said. Her eyes slid to the skater’s friend. “Nice shirt,” she commented as she walked past. 

The skater glanced down at his graphic tee covered in graffiti like print. “Oh, thanks,” he mumbled.

Eva laughed as she reached the driver’s side of her car. “I do like yours, but I was actually talking to Tall, Dark and Handsome, there,” she called, gesturing to the man. The dark haired man’s mouth quirked up and she saw the huff of laughter, cigarette smoke puffing out of his mouth and nose. Eva winked at him and then slid into her seat, tossing the file on top of her purse. With another quick glance up, finding Tall, Dark, and Handsome still staring in her direction over his cigarette while his friend teasingly punched his arm, Eva closed the door and put the car into gear to return to the city.

The elevator doors slid open with a ding and the digital voice announcing “Floor forty-three”, and Eva stormed out. One look at the blue and white cardboard box in her hand and the “Life’s better with Joja” printed across the sides had her hurling the box to the side. It crashed into the coffee station, spilling freshly brewed coffee and styrofoam cups across the counter and the blue carpet. Eva stomped her way to her office, pausing by the copier to snatch up an open box of paper and dump it into the floor. One pack had been caught in the box’s adhesive and ripped open. Blank paper fluttered everywhere. By this point, people across the open workspace had stopped working to watch Eva’s progress toward her office. Jack and Macy had both stood at their desks, watching her.

Eva didn’t care. 

She burst into her office and flung the copier paper box onto her desk with enough force to send the desk plaque with her name engraved on it flying across the room. Eva rounded the desk, kicking the fallen plaque. It hit a window with a screech and left a noticeable gouge in the glass. Jack, who had hurried in behind her, yelped, “Woah.” He glanced over his shoulder as Macy stepped inside the door, then asked, “You okay, boss?”

Eva bent beneath her desk and ripped the plug of her pink salt lamp from the power strip. She answered Jack as she set the lamp into the box. “I’m not your boss anymore,” she snapped. She grabbed the potted orchid from near the window and added it into the box.

“They fired you?” Jack exclaimed, his mouth hanging open. 

Macy wore an expression that was half angst, half excitement. “Are you going to burn the place down? Can I help if you are?”

Jack rounded on his coworker. “Hey, some of us have bills to pay and we’d like to keep our jobs.” He looked back to where Eva was slamming the rest of her personal items into the box. “What happened? They… they didn’t fire you because you’re Gotoran, did they?”

“Morris,” Eva hissed. “Morris is what happened. I wish they had fired me for being Gotoran. I would own this entire company right now if they had.” She jerked open a drawer to pull out the jar candle she’d hidden there when the fire marshall had done a surprise inspection, the one that she had never even had a chance to burn. “I think Morris pulled some strings to get me fired, after I blocked him from snatching that property up as easily as he’d wanted. I play by the rules and so I got in his way.” The candle went into the box along with a lighter. Eva shook her head and clenched her fists. “Fuck Morris.”

“Woah,” Jack said once more, taking a visible step back.

“Oh, sweet Yoba, you’re gonna burn this place down,” Macy muttered gleefully, bouncing on her toes.

“What are you going to do, boss?” Jack asked.

Eva dropped her fountain pen and its stand into the box, turning around to find something else to do with her hands. She found nothing. Everything in her desk drawers were basic office supplies, bought with Joja Corp money. She had never brought many personal affects into work. No family pictures. No artwork. The only plant she’d had in the small space was her orchid, Stella. Not even her diplomas from Zuzu University hung on the wall. Everything that was actually hers barely filled the box in front of her. Now, without anywhere to channel her anger, the shock and grief hit. Eva placed her hands on her desk and bent over it, letting her head hang. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Finding another job in the current political atmosphere would be difficult, if not impossible. She was a Gotoroan Imperial in a nation at war. She’d just been fired from the largest company in the republic. No universities would hire an archaeologist specialized in Gotoran elven history when funding had been cut across the board due to the war. And, she couldn’t go home to Gotoro. 

Her eyes fell on the Mistwood Farm file on her desk. She had tossed it there that morning when she’d arrived, minutes before she’d been summoned to a meeting with the department supervisor. Eva stared at it for a moment, then flipped it open, straightening up and grabbing her phone. She tapped her fingernails against her phone case as she did some quick calculations in her head, then dialed a number from the file. Eva placed a hand on one hip as she listened to the line ring. Jack and Macy exchanged several glances as she waited for the other end to pick up.

The line clicked on. “Mayor Lewis,” she said. “This is Eva Lang. We met on Friday regarding the Mistwood Farm property. Yes. I’m calling because I’m interested in buying the property. For my own personal use.” Jack’s mouth fell open again and Macy danced out of the office with hands clasped over her mouth. Once she had rounded the corner, Macy broke out into loud cackling. A smile began to spread across Eva’s face as she spoke into her phone. “Yes, that is correct, Mayor Lewis. I’m also willing to pay all closing costs and an additional thousand above your asking price, if you’d close on the deal today.” She paused, listening to the mayor’s answer. Macy was still laughing wildly outside the door and Jack was still gaping at Eva. “You drive a hard bargain, Mayor Lewis,” Eva said. “If allowing you to treat me to dinner is what it takes to seal the deal, I accept. I’ll see you in Pelican Town at 4pm. Thank you, Mayor Lewis.”

As soon as she hung up, Jack said in an awed voice, “You just bought a farm out from under the company. You just bought a farm out of spite.”

Macy came back into the office, wiping her eyes and smudging her thick eyeliner. “Good Yoba, you’re my hero, Eva,” she gasped. 

Eva dropped her phone into her purse, slung the strap over her shoulder, and lifted the box from her desk. “Don’t tell anyone until tomorrow,” Eva lightly demanded of them, smiling. She nodded to them and said her goodbyes, then strode out of the office, box under one arm, to the elevators. Eva stared out over the view as the elevator car descended, still smiling to herself, until the doors chimed and opened into the parking garage. She stepped out, only to find Morris speaking to Eddie. 

Morris noticed her and gave her an apologetic smile. “Miss Lang, I’m so sorry about what happened. Sometimes the corporate rat race is such a thankless arena to work in.”

Eva stood in place for a moment, the elevator doors closing behind her. “Are you apologizing for having me fired, Morris?” she asked. Eddie silently gasped beside the man. “I didn’t expect such manners from you.”

“I only did what needed to be done for the company,” Morris answered, patting the air in front of him. “It was nothing personal.”

Eva nodded. Then, she grabbed her set of keys from Eddie’s stand. “I’ll get my own car today, Eddie,” Eva said to the valet. Then, she turned her gaze to Morris. “I will not apologize for what I do to ruin your life, Morris,” Eva said, walking past the man. “And it will be completely personal.”


	2. Chapter 2

> _We must become so alone, so utterly alone, that we withdraw into our innermost self. It is a way of bitter suffering. But then our solitude is overcome, we are no longer alone, for we find that our innermost self is the spirit, that it is God, the indivisible. And suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of the world, yet undisturbed by its multiplicity, for our innermost soul we know ourselves with all being.  
>  Hermann Hesse_

Eva’s morning routine had changed little since she’d taken on Mistwood Farm. She still woke up early, before the sun stirred underneath the cover of night. She still fed Naru, her bushy black cat, before beginning her morning yoga and meditation routine. Then, shower, breakfast with a cup of coffee while reading or watching the news, go to work. Work was now just outside her front door.

That had been her days since she’d arrived in Pelican Town in the early spring. Eva had put her penthouse loft up for sale, completely furnished, the week after she’d been fired, and it had sold much faster than she’d anticipated. So, she’d spent most of the winter in a cheap seaside rental cottage just north of Zuzu City, researching and studying the basics of farm life. With the money she’d managed to tuck away into savings and the money from selling her loft, car, and some of the clothes she doubted she’d ever have the occasion to wear in Pelican Town, Eva had been able to live comfortably in the rental for the season. She’d spent some money on buying new furnishings from thrift stores to fill her new house, which had undergone costly renovations and repairs in preparation for her arrival. Eva had spent the winter nights on the phone with Robin Kael-Lautrec, the town’s carpenter, getting updates and making decisions about the house.

It had been Robin who had first befriended Eva when she’d moved in. The carpenter had brought loafs of homemade bread, jars of jam, and the occasional bouquet of flowers each time she came to do work on the farmhouse. 

Robin was the reason Eva was rushing through today’s tasks. Eva huffed at herself as she drenched her overalls with foul-smelling compost tea, instead of the plants at her feet. She set her watering can down and stretched her back, a rewarding pop sounding from her spine as she looked over the rich brown fields. Her tomatoes were in full bloom with a few green beads beginning to grow. Her melon crop would be ready in the coming days, their pink skins glistening in the intense summer sun. The rest of her crops were coming along as well. Eva had estimated her income for the summer season, and was pleased to know that she would likely earn double the spring season from the first summer harvest alone. As frugal as she’d been with the renovations and moving costs, her savings account was draining far more quickly than she was comfortable with. Eva sighed, bending to lift the watering can once more to finish the day’s work, her thoughts turning back to Pelican Town’s carpenter. 

Eva had not attended the town’s Egg Festival or Flower Dance in the spring months. The war had taken a turn for the worst over the winter and anti-Gotoran sentiments had become increasingly common. She’d already had one unpleasant encounter with a farmer to the south when he’d come to welcome her to town in the early spring. He’d been pleasant until she’d spoken and he’d heard her Gotoran accent. So, Eva had kept to herself, afraid of how the rest of the townsfolk would react. Without the power and affluence of her corporate job, Eva had found herself feeling suddenly very exposed in the world. Exposed and incredibly, uncomfortably vulnerable. That feeling had brought a flood of anxiety with it, especially as she watched the needs of her new farm empty her banking account a little more each month and do little to refill it. Eva told herself that was normal for a new business, and that there was nothing to worry about. While her savings was smaller than she’d seen since leaving college, her account balance was nothing to scoff at. Especially in the current economy. Still, the anxieties remained and grew stronger day after day. The homesickness she had been battling in Zuzu City for years had come back with crushing intensity. Most days, Eva woke up, worked on the farm, and then sat in the farmhouse’s clawfoot tub under the shower head and sobbed until it was time to sleep. Eva had felt alone amongst the crowds of the city, and she thought that would be the worst loneliness she would ever feel. Here, amongst the fear, anxiety, isolation, and trees, the loneliness was worse. 

The day Robin had come to give Eva an estimate on the kitchen remodel, the carpenter had invited her to come to the town’s annual luau and promised to save Eva a seat with her family. Maybe the loneliness she’d been feeling was the reason Eva kept the little cardstock invitation on her fridge door, looking at it every morning and debating whether she’d actually attend. 

Eva wiped her face on her shirt as she pushed through the door into her house. It was just now noon and the summer heat was already far higher than Eva enjoyed. She kicked off her boots beside the door and moved into the kitchen for a drink of water, flapping her sweat-soaked shirt as she did. The kitchen had seen some repairs, but was still in need of updating and renovations. By the end of summer, if things continued going well, Eva hoped she could have Robin remodel it. It was a frivolous expense, Eva knew, especially when she considered the worries she had about her bank accounts. But, she found peace in cooking and wanted to create a comforting sanctuary to cook in. She looked over the space, imagining the changes she had designed. Then, she sighed, set her glass in the sink, and looked down at Naru, who was lounging on the cool stone tiles. “She’d think less of me if I didn’t show, wouldn’t she?” Eva asked the cat, who only meowed in answer. “Okay. You’re right. I’m going to change.” She showered again and changed into her swimsuit. She tied an airy lace beach cover around her waist and then returned to the kitchen, touching the white blooms on Stella the orchid. Eva stepped over Naru’s bushy tail to reach the small crate of peppers she’d saved for the luau’s potluck soup. “Excuse me,” she said in a mock annoyed tone. The cat only flicked its tail in response. Eva smiled and shook her head, pausing on her way to the door to reach down and ruffle the cat’s ears. “Enjoy lazing about this afternoon.” He answered her with another tiny, squawking meow.

The walk to the beach was long, but pleasant as long as Eva kept to the shade. When she reached the beach, she found it had been transformed. Long tables surrounded a large cooking pot in the middle of the beach, all laden with food. A small stage had been set up on the opposite end of the beach, past a grouping of smaller tables with folding chairs around them and a dance floor. It looked as if a small band was going to play sometime during the event, from the set of drums, keyboard and electric guitar waiting there. Currently, speakers on the stage piped out happy tropical music. Eva stopped in the sand, eyes roving around the crowd. It seemed the whole town had come to the event, including the bull-necked farmer who had been hostile to her. Even Morris was there, standing in the shade of a Joja Corp pavilion tent with bright blue coolers on the sand around him. The man saw Eva and gave her a mocking smile, like he had every other time she’d seen him in town. Suddenly, she considered going back to the farmhouse and hiding in her bed.

Just as she was about to turn and slink back onto the shaded path behind her, Eva spotted Robin. The carpenter grinned brightly at her and waved her over. Eva took a deep breath, reminding herself that she had dominated conference rooms at Joja Corp, that she had run an entire department of a major company with great success, that she had presented academic papers at massive conventions during her university years. She wished she was wearing heels for a brief moment, so she could fully feel commanding and in control. _Fake it until you make it, Queenie_ , she told herself, imagining her father’s voice in her head. _Be strong._ Then, she flashed a bright smile at Robin and walked over to the table the woman was sitting at, her husband Demetrius and daughter Maru beside her. Eva had briefly worked with Maru during the previous season, when she needed help engineering a self-contained composting system. Maru had designed it, using several 50 gallon drums. The young scientist had even managed to rig up a system to drain and store the compost tea that the compost generated so Eva would never have to deal with the smelly liquid except when she fed her crops. The young woman had a knack for numbers and blueprints that Eva envied. She’d enjoyed working with Maru, finding her attention to details similar to her own. 

Eva had just reached the Lautrecs’s table when a blonde girl two tables over turned, saw Eva, and gasped. “Oh my God,” she exclaimed, ripping her sunglasses from her face. “Is that an Alessa Verang swimsuit?”

Eva glanced down at the black one-piece she was wearing. It was nothing notable, at least from the front. No cutouts, high neckline, smooth matte black fabric. It was backless, however. Eva had bought it a couple of years ago when Joja had hosted a corporate retreat to a beach resort. It had been her beach version of a little black dress, which was why she had picked it out for the luau. How the girl had recognized it as a designer brand, Eva had no clue. She looked up at the gaping blonde. “It is,” Eva admitted with a half smile.

“I wasn’t expecting a farmer to have Alessa Verang in their closet,” the girl said. 

“I wasn’t always a farmer,” Eva answered simply. Then, she took a seat beside Robin and the blonde turned back to the brown headed man beside her, leaning in close as she returned back to their conversation. Eva looked at Robin with raised eyebrows and both the carpenter and Maru laughed. 

“Haley is our resident fashionista,” Maru offered. “She’ll probably ask to borrow your clothes now.”

“I’d be glad to sell her some,” Eva answered. “I still have some I’m wanting to get rid of. Gotta make room for more work shirts.” She made a mental note to talk with Haley further in hopes of clearing her closet out a bit more. 

Eva sat with the Lautrec family for a while, before Robin pulled her from her seat and walked with her to the soup pot, where Robin introduced her to Marnie, the animal rancher immediately south of Mistwood Farm. The woman pulled a startled Eva into a big hug and then took the peppers out of her hand, insisting she go and rest and enjoy the luau. When Eva and Robin returned to their table, Eva was smiling for the first time in months. A strong breeze blew off the water, painting the small waves with white foam along their edges and filling the air with the smell of the ocean. The sound of the wind and waves washed over Eva, settling her anxieties until she was mostly at ease, and she began enjoying the town’s event. 

Eva remained close to Robin and Maru throughout the event, chatting with them both. Robin introduced her to Leah, the local artist living on the edge of the Cindersap Forest, who invited Eva to join her and Elliott, an aspiring writer who lived in the nearby cabin on the beach, for their monthly book club and wine tasting. Their tastes in literature seemed to match Eva’s, so she agreed and saved the date and time for the next meeting in her phone. A dark haired woman named Olivia Duchin came over to introduce herself to Eva. Olivia had some hints of the same crisp accent Eva had, being a first generation Republic citizen born to Gotoran immigrants. The woman was very welcoming to Eva, glad to have a “fellow Gotoran” in town. Eva even had the chance to chat with Haley when the blonde came over to the table with camera in hand, taking pictures for the Pelican Town Bulletin, the town’s newsletter, since it was too small to have an official newspaper. Haley ended up sitting in a chair beside Eva for a half hour, discussing fashion and designer brands. By the time Haley moved on to finish taking pictures, she’d enthusiastically agreed to come up to Mistwood Farm to look through the clothes Eva was selling. “We’re dancing together when the real music starts,” Haley stated as she stood, looping the strap of her camera back over her neck. Eva laughed and agreed, waving to the woman as she walked away.

Eva listened to Demetrius explain his work while they enjoyed bowls of the delicious potluck soup. She understood little of his technical jargon, but smiled and nodded anyway. She was able to add to the conversation when he began talking about the trouble he was having with grants and fundings, even though he was attached to Zuzu University. That conversation ended suddenly as night began to fall, when the man’s watch beeped. “Oh,” he said, clicking the alarm off and rising from his chair. “I have to go check some samples I have processing back at the lab. It was wonderful speaking with you, Eva.” He gathered up his bowl, kissed Robin, and then left, muttering what sounded like a to-do list to himself.

Mayor Lewis was bopping about the area, lighting the tiki torches stuck in the sand. He’d already seen the governor of Stardew Valley off an hour earlier. He beamed at Eva from beneath his grey mustache as he lit the torch near their table. “Good to see you out and about, Miss Lang,” he said. “I was beginning to think we’d gotten a bigger hermit than Old Murph was.”

“I’m glad to be here, Mayor Lewis,” Eva answered. “This has been a wonderful reprieve from work.”

The mayor beamed even brighter. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. I’m going to head home as soon as I finish lighting these torches. I’m getting too old to stay up late, and I gave Sam permission for him and his band to play after the governor left. I’m too old for that kind of music. I’ll leave that to the young folk.” He waved good night to them and moved on, pausing to let Marnie join him as they both walked back towards town.

“You guys have a local band?” Eva asked Robin and Maru over the top of her bottled water. She’d made sure to pick the brand that was not Joja. Morris had noticed from his Joja tent and Eva had only returned his mocking smile as she returned to the Lautrecs’ table with a plate piled high of seaweed salad and sliced cucumbers. Somehow, enjoying the town’s luau while knowing Morris was watching felt good. _Let him see he didn’t tear me down._

Maru rolled her eyes and snorted. “If you can even call it a band.” Robin nudged her with a slight disapproving scowl on her face. “What? They’re good, yeah, but it still seems silly.” Maru looked back to Eva and said, “They’re called the ‘Squid Kids’.”

Eva laughed. Robin shook her head, trying to hide her own growing smile. “That was Sam’s doing, I guarantee it,” she said. “There’s hardly a serious bone in that boy’s body.”

Eva glanced up at the stage, finding a purple haired girl settling in behind the drums and a blond boy doing final tuning to the guitar. She recognized him as the skater who had admired her car back in the fall. She’d seen him around the town on his skateboard the few times she’d gone to Pierre’s general store, but had never had the chance to speak to him. “And Sam is…?”

Robin pointed at the blond boy. “Jodi’s son. He works part time at the Joja Mart. His father, Kent, is deployed overseas, so Sam helps take care of his little brother Vincent.” Then she pointed to the girl. “That’s Abigail. She’s Pierre and Caroline’s daughter. She’s taking online classes from Zuzu University. I forget what she’s planning on studying once she finishes her gen ed.” 

Robin looked like she was going to say more, but the speakers crackled to life and Sam stepped up to the mic in front of him and introduced the band as the last band member stepped up to the keyboard and final mic. Eva barely had time to recognize him as the man she’d dubbed as Tall, Dark and Handsome back in the fall before the band launched into their first song. Abigail easily pounded out a steady beat on her drums and Sam picked out a set of chords on the guitar. Then, the dark haired keyboardist surprised Eva by beginning to sing in a tenor voice - she’d expected Sam to be the lead singer, not a backup vocalist. Eva found herself grinning as she listened to him sing an alternative rock song. 

_It's so fake, this world of ours  
More satellites than shooting stars; they're all around  
Yeah, their broken hearts on the boulevard  
You know this world will leave you scarred and let you down  
By leaving here with you, one of you will be living on the dark side  
Yeah, right here, right now, we'll leave this crowded room_

_I'll take your body to the moon  
Then I'll let you turn it around  
Girl, let's show me something new  
Let me watch you take it off now  
Baby, we don't need these lights  
'Cause you'll be seeing stars tonight  
I'll take your body to the moon  
Let's fly!_

Eva leaned in closer to Robin and Maru to be heard over the speakers. “And who is Tall, Dark and Handsome, on the keyboard?”

Maru had just taken a big drink from her water bottle, and immediately spewed it across the table and surrounding sand. She fell into a coughing fit, shaking her head the entire time. Robin stared at Eva for a moment before answering in a deadpan tone, “That would be my son, Sebastian.”

Eva felt her face grow red and she sat back into her seat. “Oh,” she managed to say. “Uh, well done, I suppose?”

To her surprise, Robin laughed, throwing her head back. “Well, at least something came out of that failed marriage, then.” The carpenter then pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m going to go get more water for us all. You know, since Maru just spilled hers and you’re clearly thirsty.”

Maru, who had finally regained her breath, groaned. “Ugh, Mom.” Then, she turned to look at Eva as Robin walked away. “I thought you’d have better taste than my half brother, Eva. Emo rebel doesn’t seem to be your type.”

Eva half shrugged, her face still burning. “I can’t be completely posh and cultured all the time, can I?” Then, she asked, “There’s nothing I can offer you to not tell him, is there?”

Maru began laughing, shaking her head. “That’s not how things work here, city girl.”

Eva nodded and sank deeper into her seat as the band began the next song in their set. She was saved from her embarrassment when Haley made good on her promise and came to collect Eva to dance. By the end of the night, Eva’s legs were tired from dancing to every song the _Squid Kids_ played and her face was aching from smiling.

Sebastian closed the door behind him, managing to not slam it or drop his keyboard, in its case over one shoulder. As much as he had enjoyed playing at the end of the luau, dragging his keyboard and stand all the way to the beach and back was annoying. He hefted it across his back, adjusting the strap digging painfully into his shoulder, and made his way to the stairs leading to his basement room. The door to Demetrius’ lab was open, and his stepfather was bustling about inside, humming some show tune to himself, despite the late hour. Maru bounced to the doorway and grinned mischievously out at him. “Finally home, ‘Tall, Dark and Handsome’?” She burst out into a fit of hardly repressed giggles, clutching the doorframe to keep herself upright.

He stopped at the top of the stairs and just stared at her. “Yeah,” he answered, drawing out the word. “Had to help Sam pack everything up. What’s wrong with you?”

Maru shook her head. “Nothing. Just thought you’d like to know you’ve got an admirer.” She rocked on her feet for a moment, waiting for him to take the bait. When he didn’t, she said, “The new farmer, Eva, called you that tonight.” The amused grin on her face began fading as Sebastian stared at her with no expression or reaction. “She called you ‘Tall, Dark and Handsome’,” she stated flatly, her amusement turning into annoyance. “Seriously, no reaction?”

Sebastian shrugged, or at least tried to with the weight of his keyboard dragging one shoulder down. “Whatever. I haven’t even met her. Like I’d be interested in anyone who’d willingly move here and become a farmer.” He turned away from his sister and began down the first of the stairs.

“You did meet her, back in the fall,” Maru called after him in a teasing tone. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder to find she’d moved to the top of the stairs. “She called you that then, too. She said she liked your Set the Stars on Fire shirt.”

Sebastian paused. He would have remembered… He burst back onto the hallway landing, nearly knocking Maru to the floor with his keyboard, gaping at her. “The new farmer is the Joja rep with the car?” he asked.

Maru nodded at him, grinning madly. “Yep.”

“The new farmer is the Joja rep that looks like a model?”

Maru’s grin grew even wider. “Yep,” she answered again. 

“Why the fu-”

Demetrius’ voice cut through the hallway from within the lab. “Language, Sebastian.”

“-udge would she become a farmer here?” Sebastian finished, changing the word as he said it and ignoring his stepfather otherwise. How Demetrius had even heard him was beyond Sebastian.

Maru just shrugged and turned back to the lab, still grinning. “Guess you’ll have to ask her when you officially met her,” she said. Then, she looked over her shoulder and added, “I knew you’d want to know.”

Sebastian stood at the top of the stairs for a minute longer, his mind racing as it tried to process the new information. Then, he bounded down the stairs, tossed his keyboard onto the couch just inside the door, and tugged his phone from his back pocket. He quickly typed out a text to Sam.

_The new farmer is the Joja rep with the car. You met her?_

He had just sat down in his chair at his desk when his phone vibrated with Sam’s answer, a series of individual messages.

_Seriously????  
No, I haven’t met her.  
Think she’d let us drive her car???  
Or even just ride in it...  
Dude, I’m asking her next time I see her.  
You remember what she looks like?_

Sebastian shook his head and typed out _If you don’t remember what she looks like, you’re an idiot._ He set his phone on the desk and leaned back in his chair. “Why would she move here?” he asked himself. Then, he shook his head again and turned on his monitor array. He had work to finish up, even if it was almost midnight. Sebastian put in earbuds and began playing music, choosing Set the Stars on Fire with a smile as he remembered the compliment the new farmer had given him months ago.

A little bell jingled from over the door as Eva stepped into Robin’s carpentry shop, which was attached to the front of the Lautrec home. The smell of sawdust, linseed oil, and varnish hung heavy in the air. Robin was standing behind the counter, hands resting on the back of an office chair. The chair was occupied by Sebastian, coffee mug in one hand and computer mouse in the other. He seemed to be in the middle of troubleshooting Robin’s desktop computer. Robin flashed a bright smile at Eva as she approached the counter, then turned her attention back to the computer. Sebastian made one final click, then said, “There you go, Mom. Try not to click so much next time.”

Robin huffed. “I wouldn’t if it would load the invoices faster.”

Sebastian stood from the chair. “I’ll see if I can make it run faster later. You might need some new hardware.”

For a brief moment, Eva considered stepping back outside to give the man the chance to go somewhere else. She felt her cheeks heat as she remembered that Maru had likely told him what she’d said during the luau two weeks before. Eva had spent that time debating if she should act like it never happened, that he likely knew, or to double down on it all. When he turned around and saw her, Eva’s mind made the snap decision to double down and gamble it all. She leaned her elbows on the counter and smiled at him. “You sing, play piano, _and_ fix computers?” she asked. 

“What of it?” Sebastian asked as he took a sip of his coffee. His mug was black with a white geometric symbol on it, a large 20 in the middle. Over it the mug read “Challenge accepted”.

Eva shrugged. “It just seems you have a silver tongue and are skilled with your hands,” she said in an innocent, nonchalant tone.

The look he gave her over his mug was piercing in its sudden intensity. He quirked one eyebrow, and Eva could see his lips tug up in a smirk. “Don’t even think about saying it,” Robin exclaimed, swivelling around in her office chair while waving a finger at her son. “Sebastian, don’t you dare. I hate that phrase, and you know it.”

Sebastian only shrugged and walked around the counter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mom. I wasn’t going to say anything,” he answered. When he rounded the corner and drew closer to Eva, he whispered as he passed, “That’s what she said.”

Eva burst out laughing. “You said it, didn’t you?” Robin groaned, shaking her head. “Take your bad self back down to your lair.” She fluttered a dismissing, yet teasing wave in his direction and turned back to her computer, clicking the mouse about ten times in quick succession. 

“Lair?” Eva asked Sebastian as he walked behind her.

He stopped in the hallway door and leaned against the wall, kicking one foot up against the wall.“I live downstairs,” he answered simply.

“He lives in the basement,” Robin added. “Because he’s a vampire who never goes outside.”

“If I was a vampire, I’d be dead already,” Sebastian replied. “I eat your spaghetti, and it has enough garlic to kill a family of vampires.” Robin gave a noncommittal huff. Then, Sebastian glanced down at Eva’s feet, seeing the strappy heels she was wearing. It had been too hot for her to stand wearing socks and work boots for one more hour, so Eva had changed before walking through the mountain woods to Robin’s. She hadn’t had many occasions to wear any of her collection of heels since moving to Pelican Town and Eva had decided to make her own. While walking along the dirt path had been a very different experience than the smooth concrete of the city, Eva had enjoyed the feeling. “Do you do farm work in heels?” Sebastian asked her. 

Eva kicked one leg up and struck a classic pin-up model pose. Part of her felt like an idiot, but in that moment, she found her confidence did not care. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Kinda why I asked,” he answered dryly with a wry half smile. He took another sip of his coffee, this time grimacing. “This coffee is awful, by the way,” he said to his mom.

Robin stood up from her computer then and began shooing him away. “I said go on, Sebby. I thought you had a pressing work project.”

Sebastian heaved a sigh and took a long drink of his coffee. “I do, I do.” He turned on the heel of his boots and made his way to the top of the stairs just beyond the hallway. “Oh, and you’re welcome, Mom,” he called over his shoulder.

“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for little helpless me,” Robin called after him in a sarcastic voice. She was answered with an equally sarcastic salute of Sebastian’s coffee mug as he disappeared down the stairs. Robin looked at Eva then. “So, what can I do for you today, Eva? Ready for that kitchen redo?”

“I am,” Eva answered, pulling her backpack from her back and digging for the folder she’d put together for the kitchen remodel. “This season has gone better than I had anticipated, so I’m ready a bit before we had discussed. I hope that’s not a problem.” When Robin shook her head, Eva continued, “I looked over the tile and counter samples you sent me. I decided to keep the original stone floors. And I ordered the cabinet hardware offline, and they should be here in two weeks. I’ll bring them to you when they come in.”

Robin began flipping through the folder Eva had handed her, looking over the sketches Eva had drawn up and the samples she’d settled on. “Keep them at your place. I won’t attach them until after the cabinets are installed. Easier to transport that way.” She fell silent as she finished looking over Eva’s design plan. “I’ll do the numbers to give you an exact idea of what you’re looking at, but I think we were close with that estimate. Same appliances?”

“I was wanting to ask how much to add a wood burning stove, for extra heat in the winter” Eva said, tapping the floorplan she’d drafted. “I want to keep the fridge. I’m actually enjoying the vintage vibe it has. But a new range and oven would be nice. I was wanting to get a price on a double wall oven unit, with a countertop range, to replace the all-in-one unit I’ve already got.”

“Oh, going fancy,” Robin said.

“I’ve been working hard enough, I thought I should treat myself,” Eva said.

“No problem,” Robin answered, snapping the folder shut. “I’ll let you know what your final total should look like with these additions by the end of the day tomorrow. Okay if I text them to you?”

Eva nodded, slinging her backpack back over her shoulders. “Perfect. Thanks, Robin!” she said as she headed toward the door.

“Okay, but I have to know,” Robin called from the counter, stopping Eva from stepping back outside into the summer heat. “Do you wear heels to do farm work?”

Eva just smiled and closed the door behind her, leaving the woman laughing and shaking her head. Eva walked back along the mountain path, grateful when she stepped into the shade of the trees. It was still hot, even in the mountains, but it was much cooler here, especially in the shade. Eva slowed her steps to listen to the drone of the cicadas and the breeze weaving its way through the treetops. The sounds reminded her of summers at her grandparents’ in Gotoro, and her heart grew heavy. She pulled her backpack in front of her and dug out her phone from one of the outer pockets. Her father had missed the last two weeks’ phone call with her, and she was growing worried. The news said there had been multiple large scale battles on Gotoro’s largest island, where Eva knew her father had been stationed. She typed out a message, one of many that had remained unanswered, and sent it to him. _Hey, just checking in again. I hope you’re okay. Getting worried. Love you, Daddy._ She pressed her phone to her chest and then continued walking back to the farmhouse. 

She had reached the end of the mountain path when her phone began ringing in her hands. Eva looked down and saw her father’s name and photo light up her screen. For a moment, she stood and stared down at her father’s rugged face, grey streaking the dark hair cropped close at his temples. Then, she dropped to the top stone step cut into the hillside just above her farm and answered the phone. “Daddy,” she breathed. Relief washed over her and tears began forming in her eyes. 

“Hey, Queenie,” came her father’s deep voice through the speaker, his crisp accent thicker than Eva’s. “I am so sorry, Eva. Things have gotten… Well, things aren’t going well at the moment.”

“But you’re okay?” Eva asked, sniffling.

“Yes, I’m fine. Tired, burned out, missing you, but I’m fine. Please don’t cry, Eva. I know I made you worry. I’m sorry. I tried to get away to talk with you.”

Eva cradled her phone against her shoulder and covered her face with both hands, pressing her palms hard against her eyes. “I’m just so glad to hear your voice. The news…”

“I know, Queenie. I can’t imagine what you’ve heard and what you’ve been through. Please don’t cry, my lovey. I’m all right. I’m safe.”

Eva nodded, moving her hands from her face and switching her phone to the other ear. “I’m okay. Just give me a second.” She wiped her face and moved to lean against a section of fence that ran along the stairs. Be strong, she told herself. “I’m okay now,” she said, her voice much steadier.

“Good,” came her father’s answer. She heard a chair scrape against a metal floor and the sounds of him settling into it. “Now, tell me how things are going. I’ve wanted to hear about your farm and work. Have you settled into things yet?”

“The farm is doing well. My pink melons are still producing and I’m getting really good prices for them. I actually just put in the order for my kitchen remodel. And I bought another houseplant from Caroline yesterday.”

Her father chuckled on the other end of the line. “Oh no, like you needed another one. What did you get this time?”

Eva grinned and answered, “A string of pearls. It’s going to go on one of the open shelves of my new kitchen, above the sink. It already has some blooms on it, so it smells wonderful. Like cinnamon.”

“You have a growing addiction, Eva,” her father stated. “It’s not enough you live on a farm, surrounded by forest. You’d think you had enough of plants and greenery.”

“Hey, I’m enjoying actually being home enough to keep houseplants alive.”

“And Naru isn’t eating them?” her father asked. 

Eva started laughing. “Not with a water gun as punishment, no,” she replied, earning a deep laugh from her father. 

When his laughter died down, her father asked, “And how are things going with the townsfolk? I have heard of increasing violence against Gotorans.” Eva could hear the worry in his voice. 

“As long as I stay away from one of the other farmers, there’s no problems,” Eva answered, stretching her legs out across the warm stone of the top step. “He tried to cause trouble when he saw me in town last week, and Mayor Lewis put an end to it. But, that man has problems with almost everyone in town, it seems. Everyone else has been really welcoming and nice.”

“Good. I’m glad there are people to look after you. Have you made any friends yet?” Eva opened her mouth to answer, but her father cut her off, saying, “Other than Caroline, who is feeding your plant addiction.”

Eva laughed along with her father, then answered, “Maybe Hayley, but it’s hard to tell with her. We’ve certainly bonded over fashion. She’s the one I told you about, the girl who bought some of my clothes and shoes. When she’s going to wear them, I don’t know. She went to beauty school, apparently, and offered to cut my hair next weekend.”

She heard her father begin to say something when the loud bang of a door crashing open rang through the speaker of her phone. Her father muttered a quick, “Hold on, Queenie,” followed by a muffled conversation with someone else. Eva strained to listen to the noise she could hear in the background. She was able to pick out the loud whir of aircraft engines and what sounded like a claxon. Then, the speaker crackled and her father was back on the line. “I have to go, Eva,” he said regretfully. 

“Duty calls,” Eva answered sadly. She heard him shove his chair back and his heavy footsteps on the metal floor. The sound of a metal belt buckle told her he was strapping on his sword belt. Eva could hear the metal tipped scabbard she’d grown up seeing him with bang against his desk. 

“It does. I love you, Eva, and I’m proud of you.” His words were followed by the sound of a desk drawer opening, then closing again. Eva knew he was pulling his pistol from where he kept it in his desk and was dropping into the holster at his side.

“I love you too, Daddy. Stay safe, and end this war. I want to come home,” Eva said, tears pricking her eyes again.

_Be strong. Be strong._

“I’m trying my best, lovey,” was her father’s answer before he ended the call. He never said goodbye to her. He considered the gesture too formal, too final, and bad luck. Eva pulled the phone away from her ear and looked down at the screen to watch her father’s picture fade away, then pressed the phone against her chest once again and cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song the band plays is "Moon" by The Cab. I highly recommend it!
> 
> I imagine Sebastian's voice to be quite similar to Brendan Urie's (Panic! at the Disco). 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has left a comment or kudos so far! I really appreciate it and I hope you're enjoying the story!


	3. Chapter 3

> Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.  
> -Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper

The light knock on his door was enough to make Sebastian pause, work momentarily forgotten. No one ever knocked on his door. He tapped on the volume down key on his mechanical keyboard, eyeing his bedroom door with suspicion over the array of monitors in front of him. “Yes?” he called out.

The door swung open slightly and the new farmer - Eva, Sebastian reminded himself - popped her head in. “Hey. Bad time?” she asked, not stepping into the room. “I know you’re working.”

Her consideration for his job surprised him, especially since he didn’t think she knew exactly what he did, enough that he flashed her a quick, confused smile and waved her inside. Eva stepped in and closed the door behind her, something else no one ever did. “No, not at all,” Sebastian answered. “Just give me a second to finish this up.” He looked back down at his monitors and made a change to the code filling his screen, then another, and then wrote up a quick pair of comments for the changes. While he worked, he watched the woman standing in the center of his room over the edge of a monitor. She was subtly peering around his room, taking in the rock band and movie posters taped up on the walls, his collection of fantasy novels and comics on shelves that wrapped around most of the room, and the shelf of roleplaying miniatures near his gaming table on the opposite wall. Sebastian couldn’t help but wonder why she had moved into town and became a farmer, when she could have easily been a model. He glanced down at her feet and saw she was wearing brown leather work boots with her black overalls. “No heels today?” he commented as he turned back to his work.

“Not today,” Eva answered with a lopsided grin. “You’re into sci-fi and fantasy, I see,” she said, waving a hand around at the decor.

“Yeah,” Sebastian answered, a furrow forming between his eyebrows as he made yet another change to his code. “I know that makes me a cliche stereotype, a nerdy single guy who loves sci-fi and fantasy and lives in his mother’s basement, spending all day on a computer.”

Eva laughed, giving him a sweeping look that his monitor array didn’t hide. “Not quite like the stereotype,” she said with a smile Sebastian could only describe as alluring. 

Sebastian met that smile with the most confident grin he could muster. “You like sci-fi and fantasy?”

“I’ve liked the movies I’ve seen in both genres,” she answered.

“I’ve got an important question for you then,” he said, still typing. “Favorite sci-fi: _Star Wars_ or _Star Trek_?”

“Now, that’s not a fair question,” Eva said. “ _Star Wars_ is more of an epic fantasy set in a science fiction-esque setting, isn’t it?”

Sebastian stopped typing completely and leaned back to better see her. “You sound like Abby after she took one literature course,” he said. 

“I hope I sound like I’ve got an entire degree in literature,” Eva replied with a smirk. 

Sebastian laughed and looked back at his work, rolling his chair closer to his desk. “Well, let me tell you about Elliott. Suave author who lives on the beach? Sounds like you’ll like him.”

“I may have met him already,” she answered as she gazed at his book collection again. “Though he lost points in my opinion when he defended the merits of beatnik poetry. I despise beatnik poetry.”

“I have no idea what that is,” Sebastian commented dryly.

Eva laughed again. “Good,” she said, smiling. “And to answer your question, I think I prefer _Star Trek_ , mainly for Spock.” Her smile faded to fascination as she turned back to his bookshelves. Eva gestured to his collection of books with one finger. “May I?”

Sebastian nodded, still making edits to his code. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he typed. She stepped around the gaming table and leaned closer to study the titles. At first he thought she was bending in just the right way to showcase her ass, thinking to himself how confident she must be to do so, but then realized she was completely taken in by the books before her. She pulled one from the shelf and straightened, studying the front cover, then opening the book. “I’m not familiar with Poul Anderson,” she commented, her accent catching on the unfamiliar name. Sebastian looked away from his monitors to see she was holding his copy of _The Broken Sword_.

“I would say he’s actually the founding father of fantasy, not Tolkien,” Sebastian said. “He published shortly before Tolkien did, was widely popular in his time, and many of the tropes in fantasy come from him. Like, dwarves having a thick brogue accent.” He began typing again, then realized how much of a nerd he had sounded like and frowned at himself.

“Really?” Eva asked with raised eyebrows. “That’s fascinating. I studied Tolkien’s translation of _Beowulf_ at university, but never had the chance to study his fantasy works. I enjoyed the movies, though. I’m amazed I’ve never heard of Anderson, if he’s as influential as you suggest.” 

Sebastian looked back at her in surprise, his fingers stuttering on the keyboard as he wrote up another comment for his code. “You can borrow it, if you like,” he said. She flashed a smile at him in thanks and then tucked the book into the floral print backpack she had carried in. He finished up his latest changes and set the program compiling. “Dear Yoba, let this not break it all,” he muttered to himself. Sebastian pushed his chair away from his desk and stood, his back cracking as he straightened and stretched. He had been working on this latest project for nearly a week. Fifty hours plus so far and there was still a lot left to polish off before he sent it to the client tomorrow afternoon, before the weekend’s start. Sebastian knew he was looking at a long afternoon and night of work to get it done, but he also knew he needed more coffee. He lifted his empty coffee mug from his work surface as he rounded the corner. “Thanks for letting me finish,” he said to Eva, walking towards her. She had turned away from his book collection and was looking at the miniatures he had on display.

“No problem,” she answered, turning to face him. “I knew you worked from home. Thanks for letting me drop in.”

Sebastian shrugged. “I needed a break anyway. Been staring at the same lines of code for a few hours now,” he told her, showing her his empty mug. “And I need more coffee. Always more coffee.”

“Hopefully, I have something to help with that,” she said. She pulled her little floral print backpack from her shoulders again and plunged a hand into its depths for a moment before tugging a metallic purple foil bag out. Eva presented it to Sebastian with a little crooked smile. He took it from her and saw that it was a premium coffee blend, the kind you get from overpriced cafes in Zuzu City. When he glanced up at her with a questioning expression, Eva shrugged, the smile still on her face as she explained, “Last week you commented on your coffee being… lackluster. So, I thought you’d enjoy that kind. It’s my personal favorite brand. If you like it, let me know and I can get you a discount on your first couple of orders. I have a subscription service with the company.”

“Thank you,” Sebastian said, touched by her thoughtfulness. “You didn’t have to.”

“I know,” the woman answered with another shrug. Then, she said, “So, no one has told me what it is you do. I’m assuming it’s some kind of programming?”

Sebastian nodded. “Freelance, yeah. I do some web design as well.”

Eva’s eyebrows rose, clearly impressed. “Freelancing is hard,” she commented. “I tried some freelance writing in undergrad to help with the bills, but I never really made much.”

“What kind of writing?” Sebastian asked, leaning against a shelf and kicking one foot up. 

“Oh, just technical stuff. I helped write a toaster manual, once. Really mind-numbing, which is saying something, since I wanted to make a career out of sifting through dirt,” Eva replied. When Sebastian laughed, she chuckled with him.

“What exactly did you do?” Sebastian asked her. “Before you moved to the far edge of civilization? You worked for Joja, right?”

Eva nodded. “I did, though that involved more sifting through paperwork than dirt. I studied to be an archaeologist and historian. The political tension with Gotoro has kept me from starting a job in that field. I ended up working for Joja Corp in their property procurement department.”

“And then you bought a farm,” Sebastian stated, hoping he was subtly pressing the woman in front of him for details. He wanted to know why anyone, especially a woman like her, would move to Pelican Town, of all places. 

Eva took a breath and sighed. “And then I bought a farm,” she said with a smile that Sebastian noticed didn’t reach her eyes. “There’s a story behind that,” she continued, her eyes falling on the roleplaying miniatures on the shelves behind him. “Short version is I was fired and had to find another job. I saw an opportunity and I took it.” 

She looked like she always saw an opportunity and always took it, Sebastian thought. Eva stepped closer to the shelves, and where he stood, giving him the chance to study her for the first time. Her eyes were softer without the winged eyeliner he remembered her wearing when he had first seen her. As he studied her, he realized she wasn’t wearing any makeup. At least, he didn’t think she was. The freckles covering her face suggested she wasn’t. He realized he likely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Sebastian took note of how she was looking at the miniatures, as if she was in an art gallery appreciating some fancy painting instead of a black dragon wreathed in clouds of acid.

“These are amazing,” she said softly, one hand lifting as if she was going to touch the outstretched wing of the dragon. Then, Eva pressed her fingertips to her chest instead.

Sebastian smiled to himself as he watched her study the miniatures. “Thank you,” he said. “I don’t get to paint as much as I used to.”

Eva’s head whirled around to face him. “You painted these?” When he nodded in confirmation, she turned back to the shelves and moved a step to the side, leaning closer to a rampaging owlbear figure. Her mouth was open slightly in awe. “That’s incredible. You really painted all of them?”

“Well, Sam and Abigail did a few, back in high school,” Sebastian admitted. “But, yeah, most are my work.” He couldn’t help the pride that crept into his voice. 

Eva straightened and stepped away from the display shelves, though her eyes still lingered on the miniatures. “They’re used for… oh, what are they called?” Sebastian only shook his head as she made a circular waving motion in the air in front of her as she searched for the word. “Like, Dungeons and Dragons?”

“Tabletop roleplaying games,” Sebastian supplied, nodding. “Yeah. Though, some of those are from Pathfinder. Another system. But, basically D&D. Sam and Abigail come over every Monday night and we play.”

“Cool,” Eva said. The word sounded odd in her posh accent, and Sebastian couldn’t help but huff a laugh. She didn’t seem to notice. “I had a roommate in undergrad who played at her boyfriend’s place. She would come back home and tell me about all the crazy things that happened in the session.” She looked at him with her head cocked to one side. “That’s what it’s called, right? Session?”

“Yeah,” Sebastian answered. “You never joined in?”

Eva shook her head. “No, I was working on a double major, so I never really had time. It sounded like fun, though. I’m not a huge fantasy person, but only because I never had the time to read a thousand pages of a thick novel. Or any sized novel, to be honest.” She flashed a grin at him. “My to-read list is massive as a result. I’m looking forward to winter, to say the least.”

Sebastian set down his empty mug and the bag of coffee, then moved to the shelf that held all his roleplaying manuals. He pulled out the nicest copy of the core rulebook and held it out to Eva. “If you have more time now, you’re welcome to join our next session. We’re starting a new campaign, so you won’t be lost. First level characters. Sam usually plays a warrior and I think Abigail is playing a wizard. Or sorcerer. Some kind of magic user.”

Eva took the offered book. “And that means you’re running the game.” Sebastian nodded, returning to gather his cup and the coffee she’d brought him while Eva flipped through the first few pages. “I’d love to give it a go,” she finally said, the words coming out slowly. Sebastian turned back to her to find she had already begun reading. Then, she snapped the rulebook shut and carefully tucked it into her backpack. “I should let you get back to work. I’ve taken up far more of your time than I intended. And I honestly should get back to work myself. I just stopped by to give your mom the down-payment on my kitchen remodel.”

“And bring me good coffee,” Sebastian said, holding the shiny bag aloft.

“That too,” Eva replied with a bright smile. She headed for his door, and Sebastian fell into step behind her. They climbed the stairs together in silence, until Eva spoke again. “I enjoyed the luau, and your band’s performance. You’re all very good.”

“Thanks,” Sebastian answered as they reached the top of the stairs. “I was worried people wouldn’t like my songs.”

Eva stopped in the doorway that led to his mother’s shop. Sebastian could see his mother busy behind the counter, but he could tell she was paying avid attention to the two of them. He wanted to roll his eyes, but stopped himself when he realized Eva was gaping at him. “You wrote those?” she asked in a soft voice. Then she chuckled to herself and shook her head. “I’d tell you you’re talented, but I’d hate to give you an ego.”

Sebastian matched her smile. “Some people would say it’s too late for that.” He glanced down the hallway towards the kitchen, knowing he needed to grab more coffee and get back to work. But he lingered in the hallway with Eva anyway. He looked back at her and said, “If you have questions about any of the rules for D&D, or need help making a character, you can text me. I’m usually up.”

“I’d need your number for that,” Eva said, flashing him her crooked grin. 

He tucked the bag of coffee under one arm and held a hand out, waiting for her to drop her unlocked phone into it. Sebastian typed in his name and number and was about to hand it back to her when he stopped. Without really thinking, he tapped on his name and edited it, changing it to _Tall, Dark, and Handsome_ with his full name, _Sebastian Kael_ , in parentheses after it. Then he closed the contacts app and turned off the screen, catching a glimpse of the galaxy watercolor wallpaper behind neatly organized app icons, and handed her phone back. “Send me a text when you get the chance, so I’ll have your number. I left my phone downstairs,” he said, turning to head toward the kitchen. “I’ll send you the time for game night. Thanks again for the coffee.” He answered her happy wave with a subtle wave of his own. 

By the time he reached the kitchen and began making a new pot of coffee with the blend she’d brought him, he was smiling ear to ear as he waited for her to find the name he had put into her contacts.

***

Everything ached. Eva had spent the rest of the afternoon unloading a truck full of her pink melons at Pierre’s. The check Pierre had written her made the pain worth it, but only barely. She’d then worked late into the evening, not even stopping to eat dinner, to finish repairing the wooden fences around the farm. Eva pulled her phone from her back pocket and set it on the edge of the sink before beginning to peel the sweat soaked clothes from her skin. The clawfoot tub in the farmhouse’s bathroom was full of steaming water, the smell of her rose bath salts filling the air. Eva kicked her overalls off her legs and moved to climb into the tub. Her foot had just slipped into the water when she remembered she had not sent Sebastian a text with her number. Eva huffed at herself and stretched to retrieve her phone. She sank into the water with a sound between a hiss and a groan, holding her phone high with both hands to keep from dropping it. She pulled up her contacts and searched for Sebastian’s name. When it came up -- _Tall, Dark, and Handsome (Sebastian Kael)_ \-- Eva blushed. She stared at the contact profile for several moments, then tapped to send him a message. 

_It’s Eva. I see you remembered my nickname for you._

She stared at the message, biting her bottom lips, then added a facepalm emoji and sent it off. Almost instantly, her phone vibrated with his reply. “The man wasn’t joking when he said he’s always awake,” Eva muttered to herself, glancing at the time. It was almost midnight. She opened his response. 

_I see I’m not the only night owl.  
See you Tuesday at 6pm, my place. Bring snacks, whatever you want._

A moment later, right when Eva was locking her screen to toss her phone onto a pile of towels by the tub, another message came in from him. 

_Yeah, I remember. I’ve been called worse._

Eva smiled at her phone, then gently tossed it aside before sinking deeper into the hot water.

***

Music was rising up the stairs as Eva stepped into the hallway outside Robin’s empty shop. She waved to Maru as she passed the door of the laboratory. Maru waved back from where she sat cross-legged on a countertop with a laptop in her lap and a textbook open beside her. Demetrius glanced up at her from where he was hunched over a large sheet of data printouts, a pinched expression of annoyance on his face. When he saw Eva, he called out, “Would you mind closing the door?” Eva nodded, shifting the canvas grocery bag she was carrying, and hauled the large door shut, then headed downstairs to Sebastian’s room. The door was open, but she still stopped and rapt her knuckles on the frame as she stuck her head in. 

She found Sebastian laying on the couch beside the door, tossing a black stress ball into the air. “Hey,” she said over the music. 

Sebastian tilted his head back and his hair slid off his forehead. “Hey,” he answered with a lazy smile. He caught the stress ball one last time before lifting the thin remote on the couch beside him and turning down the music. “You’re early,” he commented as he sat up.

“I wanted to give you the chance to look over my character sheet one last time,” Eva said, walking over to the gaming table and setting her backpack and grocery bag down beside one of the bean bags around the table. The bags of chips inside the grocery bag crinkled as she did. Eva pulled a folder from her backpack and handed it to Sebastian, then settled onto the couch beside him. “I made a few tweaks to her stats, and I was afraid that would unbalance the game you’ve prepared.”

Sebastian was looking over her character sheet, stretching his legs out in front of him and rolling the stress ball in one hand. Eva tucked one leg under her and remained silent as he checked her sheet. She watched his grey eyes flit over her handwriting. For some reason, watching him scrutinize the character she had created made her nervous. She had always felt competent in her life back in Zuzu City, but something about Pelican Town had brought out the insecurities she hadn’t felt since her early college days. The learning curve for the game she was about to play had been much higher than she’d expected, and she’d spent most of her free time over the weekend reading and researching the game and its mechanics. Eva knew she had been overthinking it all. But Dungeons and Dragons had been a problem she knew she could solve with some measure of success. Unlike the blight that had suddenly ravaged half of her tomato crop. The disease had left the plants brown and black spotted, the yellow blooms falling off and the few tomatoes already turning red rotting on the vine. When she had gone to the general store, Pierre told her his own crop had faced the same issue in the past week and that there was little to be done about it now. Eva had gone back to the farmhouse feeling like a failure. She’d always been able to push through problems and make the best of it. To hear there was no solution had been a hard blow to Eva. She’d simply spent the weekend ripping out the dying tomato plants and burning them far away from her field, then plowing the empty soil to turn as much of it up and expose it to the sun as she could, in hopes the summer heat would kill the disease in the ground. That morning she had carefully transplanted as many of her tomatoes as she could, spreading her remaining crop out in hopes to stop the spread of the blight. Eva had then spent an hour sitting on the farmhouse’s front porch, staring out over her fields and idly petting Naru, before finally dragging herself inside for a shower. She had hoped that a hot shower would help wash away her worries about the farm, but it had only brought them floating up to the surface along with a flood of tears and gut-wrenching sobs. When she had stepped out of the shower, she found Naru sitting on the stone floor with his thick bottlebrush tail flicking back and forth, his yellow eyes locked on her. “I’m okay,” Eva told him, sniffling, when he meowed at her. Looking in the mirror, she’d sighed deeply, once, twice, forcing everything back down until she could breathe easily again. “I just need concealer and I’ll be fine,” she told the cat as she gently touched her puffy eyes. “I’m okay.” Her simple mantra of _Be strong_ had run through her head the entire time she put on makeup and got dressed.

The sound of the folder snapping shut pulled her from her thoughts. Eva found Sebastian handing it back to her. “It looks good,” he said, turning slightly to face her. “You did good, considering it’s your first character.” Eva beamed at him. She was proud of her character, actually, despite her nervousness, and was truly excited to play. Her character was an elven rogue, a dungeon and ruins delver by trade with a rather severe obsession with jewels. Eva knew making her character interested in history and archaeology was a bit on the nose, but she had found it hard to care as she rolled the character up. If she couldn’t play in ancient ruins for a career in real life, Eva would do it in a fantasy game. 

“I did have a good teacher,” Eva answered with a smile. He had gladly answered any and all of the questions she had texted him over the weekend. Sebastian returned it with a half grin of his own.

Then, Sebastian rose from the couch and moved to the table. “I did pull out some spare dice sets for you to use,” he said, pulling a box out from under the table and returning to the couch. “I’ve got plenty.” He sat back down beside her and opened the box to reveal the dice. Immediately, a hammered gold set caught Eva’s attention. She lifted one from the box and held it up to the light. The weight of it surprised her. She had expected plastic made to look like metal, not actual solid metal. The gold gleamed in between her fingers, reminding her of the few artifacts she’d had opportunity to handle in her final semester at university. 

“Oh, this one is beautiful,” Eva breathed. 

Sebastian scooped the rest of the set out of the box and dropped the dice into her hands. “I thought you’d like those,” he commented. He rummaged in the box for a moment, then showed her a second set that glimmered in a variety of jewel tones. “I also thought these fit with your character,” he said. Eva took the second set from him, tilting the little plastic case they were in to let them catch and play with the light. These were made of plastic, Eva could tell from how light they were, and had been molded to look like cut gemstones. 

“Do I really need two sets?” she asked, even while holding both sets against her chest with a bright smile on her face.

“You can never have enough dice,” Sebastian answered with a laugh. He tipped his head in the direction of her bags. “What snacks did you bring? Sam’s grabbing pizza from the Stardrop and Abby never answered my texts.” 

Eva stood to pull the chips from the bag, setting the dice on the table. “I grabbed chips from Pierre’s, since I can’t use my kitchen at the moment.” She set the chips on the table and looked over her shoulder at him. “Your mom has done a good job on the demo.”

“Salt and vinegar chips,” Sebastian commented as he looked at the flavors she’d brought. “Nice. Those are my favorites.” He sprawled back out across the couch and began tossing the stress ball back into the air. “Yeah, Mom’s been excited about your kitchen. I’m actually helping her install the cabinets and countertops tomorrow.” 

“Oh, you are?” Eva asked, shaking one of the canvas bag’s handles from the dish she was pulling from the very bottom. “How are you managing that with your job?”

Sebastian answered with a half shrug, “I don’t have any contracts for this week. I put in a few bids, but I haven’t gotten any responses yet. Mom knew I was free, so she asked me to help.” He caught the ball and looked at where she knelt by the table, then motioned to the covered dish she had set beside the chips. “What’s that?”

“Dessert,” Eva said. “It’s a chocolate eclair cake.”

“I thought--” Sebastian started.

“My fridge still works,” Eva said, cutting him off with a laugh. “It’s a no bake recipe. But I forgot to grab bowls and spoons at the store,” she added with a frown.

Sebastian pulled his phone from his back pocket. “I’ll tell Sam to grab some from upstairs when he gets here,” he said as he typed out a text.

They sat in comfortable silence after that, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Eva curled up in one of the beanbag chairs and began reading the news on her phone as Sebastian started tossing his stress ball once more. She knew she needed to stop looking at the news as frequently as she had been, that it was not helping her recent mood, but she couldn’t stop. She scrolled through the headlines on her newsfeed, a frown creasing her face with each new article title. _Republic forces storm Gotoran cultural capital Tavar in a late night blitz. Senator Ehrenreich evacuated from home after making anti-Gotoran remarks on Senate floor, receiving threats. Imperial flagship dirigible Keening breaks stalemate in the Aka plains._ Eva tapped on the last headline and stared at the blurry photo of the Keening, wondering if one of the vague shapes she could see on the gondola deck hanging beneath the balloon was her father. 

“You okay?”

“What?” Eva asked, her head snapping up. 

Sebastian had sat upright again. He was looking at her with his elbows resting on his knees. “You okay?” he repeated gently. “You’re looking at your phone like something is wrong.”

“Oh.” Eva sighed and stuffed her phone into her backpack. “I’m fine,” she said, tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear. When she met Sebastian’s gaze again, his expression made it clear he didn’t believe her. She sighed, looking down at the ground. “It’s just… My father is in the Imperial military and he’s stationed around the worst of the fighting, currently. But, I’m okay.” Eva pulled her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them, feeling the emotions from earlier in the day trying to rise back up inside.

She heard his hum in reply. “Sam’s dad is deployed overseas. He’s army infantry. So, I kinda know how difficult that is, from watching him deal with it. I’m sorry.” When she looked back at him, he was watching her. “This whole thing must be really hard on you,” Sebastian said.

Eva barked a humorless laugh. “You have no idea.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a cheerful shout from the top of the stairs. “Thanks, Other Mother!” Sam bounded down the stairs, precariously balancing two styrofoam takeout boxes on top of three pizza boxes in one hand. He held a stack of bowls and a bunch of spoons in the other, paper plates wobbling on top of it all. “Hey, Eva!” the blonde yelled when he spotted Eva. Eva ducked as he plopped his stack of food onto the table. “I got pizza and Gus’ famous zucchini fritters. You’re gonna love them, Eva. Oh, you brought chips!” Sam exclaimed, sinking into the beanbag beside her and snatching up the sour cream and cheddar bag. “Nice!” He held a hand up in the air with an enthusiastic, expectant grin on his face. It took a moment for Eva to realize he was waiting for her to give him a high five. She barely caught Sebastian’s eye roll at his friend’s antics. “So, Eva,” Sam continued, not noticing his friend’s expression. “I was wondering if you could maybe take us for a spin in your car sometime? Maybe let Sebastian drive it. He once drifted in my mom’s car on the way back from Zuzu City.”

“Just ruined that for us,” Sebastian muttered as he moved to take a seat at the end of the gaming table.

Eva laughed. “I actually sold it,” she said and instantly felt a bit guilty for the disappointment and horror that covered Sam’s face. 

“Why would you sell a car like that?” Sam breathed, his eyes wide.

Before Eva could answer, Abigail walked into the room carrying a case of root beer. She shut the door behind her and said to Sebastian, “Are you trying to give Demetrius an aneurysm? Leaving your door open while you play your ‘devil music’?” The three friends broke out into laughter around Eva, bringing a smile to her face.

“He always complains about never knowing what I’m doing down here, since my door is always closed,” Sebastian answered. “It’s called malicious compliance.”

Abigail rounded the table and flopped into a beanbag chair. She began passing bottles of root beer around the table. Nodding to the dessert Eva had brought and the bowls in front of Sebastian, she said, “Hey, Sebby, dish me some up.”

“Do I look like your butler?” he asked, even as he began to serve up a portion for her.

“You look like the guy from Black Butler,” she quipped back. “Same hairstyle and name and everything.”

“I don’t know that reference,” Eva stated, looking between the two as Sam began passing out plates and pizza. “I’m guessing it’s not a period drama, though.”

Sebastian made a disgusted face. “Please don’t tell me you like period dramas.” Eva answered him with an apologetic smile. He shook his head, saying, “You just lost points.”

Looking at Eva, Abigail broke through their conversation, “So, you gonna share the beef between you and Morris?” Eva gave her a look of surprise and Abigail returned it with a wicked grin. “Don’t think no one noticed that icy glare of yours. The temp dropped when he smiled at you. And it wasn’t a pleasant smile. It’s the same one he gives my dad right before he starts throwing coupons like dollars at the club.”

Sam snorted around a mouthful of chips, the bag already open in his lap. “Don’t make me think about my boss in a club, please,” he pleaded, thumping his chest as he choked. 

Abigail was still focused on Eva, waiting for her answer. “He got me fired,” Eva said, “because I blocked him from buying Mistwood Farm for Joja, against regulations.” She didn’t miss the rebellious grin that was spreading across Sebastian’s face as he regarded her. Eva returned it with a smirk of her own.

“Wait, so how did you end up owning it?” Sam asked, waving a half-eaten chip in the air.

Abigail exclaimed over him, “Hold up, you worked for Joja?”

Sam threw her an exasperated look. “I told you that!”

Abigail ignored him, ripping her phone from her purse. “I need you to tell me if you know this guy, works at Joja headquarters in the city.”

Eva shook her head as Abigail began scrolling through her phone. “Do you know how many people work at headquarters? There’s no way --”

“Can we not have dating apps at the table tonight?” Sebastian groaned at Abigail. “No romance at the table, remember?”

“He’s blonde, ripped, has an awesome half sleeve tattoo, full color,” Abigail continued, not listening to Eva or Sebastian. Her face brightened as she found what she was searching for and she said, “His name is Jack Holt.”

“-- I would know -- Wait, Holt?” Eva stuttered. “Did you say Jack Holt? No way --” She lunged across the table, scattering the dice in front of her, to grab Abigail’s phone out of her hands. On the screen was a dating profile, featuring a shirtless picture of no one else but Jack from her department. Everything Abigail had said was, indeed, true. Eva’s mouth fell open. “My God,” she breathed.

“You do know him!” Abigail squealed, bouncing in her seat.

Sam stretched, trying to crane his head around Eva. “I want to see,” he whined.

“Why do you need to see?” Sebastian asked, leaning around Eva’s back to see his friend.

Eva blinked a few times, still staring at the picture in front of her. “I think I’m mad,” she said, shaking her head. “That was in front of me every day for a year and a half and I didn’t even know.”

Abigail started laughing. “Would you have gone after him had you known?” she asked, giving Eva a knowing smile. “I didn’t peg you as the type who liked tattoos,” she added, her eyes darting to Sebastian, who only subtly shook his head in warning.

Eva handed the phone back and slowly sank back down into her seat. “No, that would have broken multiple regulations. I was his boss.” She began gathering her scattered dice from across the table.

“Oh, so he’s okay with a woman being on top, gotchya,” Abigail commented. Sam choked on the root beer he had been drinking, some dribbling from his nose. “I’ll be answering that message.”

Sebastian groaned, putting his face in one hand. “Why are you this way, Abby?” 

“I don’t know,” Abigail replied as she typed a message on the dating app. “Why did you think dating Haley was a good idea?”

Eva’s eyebrows rose so high they nearly disappeared beneath her bangs. She regarded Sebastian with wide eyes. The idea of Sebastian, with all his emo rebel vibes, dating the bright and popular Haley was one her brain was having trouble processing. He shook his head at her, then glared at Abigail. “I will kill you.”

“No you won’t,” the girl answered in a sing-song voice, tossing her purple hair over one shoulder. “You love me too much.” When Sebastian kept glaring at her, Abigail laughed and looked at Eva. “Haley’s the one who took that picture of him,” she said, pointing to a portrait of him leaning on a motorcycle hanging on the wall near his desk. “It was a whole thing.”

“Twice,” Sam said, wiping his sleeve under his nose to blot away the remains of root beer.

“Can we start playing?” Sebastian asked loudly, cutting over the noise of his two friends. He was unfolding his dungeon master screen and setting it up in front of him. “Or are you not done drooling over shirtless guys with Eva, Abby?”

Abigail flashed him a devious grin. “I’m sure if you took your shirt off, we’d be more interested in the game.” Still, she dropped her phone into the purse at her side and pulled out a crumpled character sheet and a mismatched set of dice.

“I second that motion,” Eva deadpanned.

Sam had just taken another drink of root beer. He choked again, this time sending soda spraying across the table and onto Abigail, who screamed in disgust. Eva burst into laughter, throwing her head back. Beside her, Sebastian only shook his head, dropping his head onto the table behind his screen. After a few seconds, Eva could hear him start laughing as well. It wasn’t long before Abigail was cackling too, despite her damp shirt. 

It took several minutes for the laughter to die down. They were all breathless and wiping tears from their eyes when the room began to settle. Sebastian emerged from behind his screen, still trying to contain his own laughter, pointedly not looking at Sam, who was using a stack of paper napkins to mop up the spilled soda. “Okay, all three of you have been brought to the town of Blightvale by various means and for various reasons,” he began, launching into the gaming session without any more delays. Eva quickly opened her folder, setting her character sheet in front of her, and pulled a mechanical pencil from her bag to take notes. Soon, she was fully immersed in the story Sebastian was weaving for them, her engagement made easy when she learned the history of fictional Blightvale, a frontier town that had once been overrun by a magical blight sweeping out of the nearby fey wood. Signs suggested the blight was returning, and the local lord had hired each of their characters to enter the forest to find some way to stop it, or at least protect the town. Eva thought of her spotted and dying tomato plants and was fully in. If she couldn’t stop the blight on her own farm, she would settle for stopping it in a fantasy game. Only twenty minutes in, Eva was having more fun than she could remember having in years, beaming from ear to ear even when she fumbled with the game’s unfamiliar mechanics. Sebastian and Abigail were quick to help her and Sam was cheerfully encouraging. For the first time in weeks, Eva felt herself fully relax, even deep down inside.

After two hours spent meeting influential town people, participating in Blightvale’s summer festival and its various contests -- Sam’s warrior won the strength competition and earned himself the attention of every single woman in the town, making the blonde blush and stutter -- and somehow becoming involved in a bar brawl with a travelling mercenary group that Eva was sure would hold a grudge and return later in the adventure, the party found themselves on a quest to find the ruins of an old wizard’s tower deep within the fey wood. “Tower” ended up being an understatement. It was a massive compound of high stone walls with secret doors and dangerous traps and labyrinth-like corridors, every inch of it taken over by blighted plants and fungus growth as the forest claimed it. Halfway through the complex, their path was blocked by a group of four slimy creatures Sebastian described as “slug-like” before telling them to roll for initiative.

Sam groaned at the one facing up on his dice. “Every time,” he grumbled. 

Eva couldn’t contain the squeal of excitement when she rolled her first twenty of the night. She was nearly bouncing in her seat when Sebastian told her she went first in the combat. “Okay,” she breathed, trying to settle herself so she could think tactically. She scanned her character sheet as she tried to think of the best attack to make against the creatures. Then a line of her handwritten notes caught her attention. “I pull one of the bags of salt from my pack and throw it at the middle two,” Eva said, one fingernail tapping the line in her inventory that listed she had six half pound bags of salt. She looked up at Sebastian and asked, “Would that be an improvised weapon or a splash weapon?”

The room was silent for a moment. Then, Sam, a slice of cold pizza in his hand, leaned over to pull her folder closer. “Why do you have a bunch of salt?” he asked. “And how do you know about improvised weapons and splash weapons? You’re completely new!”

“Because she read the manual,” Abigail stated flatly. “Unlike some people,” she finished with a pointed look at Sam.

“They were in the kitchen we passed through. Salt is listed as a trade commodity in the rulebook. I thought we could grab it and hopefully sell it at a higher price, depending on the local economy.” Eva glanced around the table as the others gaped at her. She felt her face begin to flush. 

Abigail rounded on Sebastian. “Wait, we could have been selling trade commodities at higher prices than what’s listed in the book?”

Eva found Sebastian looking at her, completely ignoring Abigail’s outrage. She couldn’t quite read the expression on his face and felt herself flushing in embarrassment even more. “You described them like slugs, I thought… This is a stupid idea, isn’t it?” She ducked her head, tugging her character sheet away from Sam so she could pick another attack.

“It’s fucking genius,” Sebastian said, causing Eva’s head to jerk back up with a growing smile. He was grinning madly at her. “I’ll rule that’s a splash weapon, and you get double damage on that.” He began chuckling to himself, shaking his head as she began rolling her attack and damage. 

Abigail leaned further over the table, demanding, “Is she right about the trade commodities?”

“She is,” Sebastian said. “You guys only ever cared about gold. Why do you think I’m still mentioning bags of wheat and stuff?”

Abigail cursed quite colorfully, insisting they go back to the kitchen and its attached storeroom after they settled this round of combat. 

The game continued on after that, for another three hours, ending when the party had discovered the secret vault a wizard of old had hidden away and had figured out the mechanism to open it. Eva whined along with Sam when Sebastian said they would leave the vault for the following week’s session. “Don’t you have to get up early tomorrow?” Sebastian asked her as they all packed up, Sam quickly claiming the leftover pizza. 

“I do,” Eva admitted. “But I want to know what’s in the vault.”

“I’m beginning to think your character is basically you,” he commented with a half smile. He waved as Abigail called a goodbye to him and left. Turning back to Eva, he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Eva.”

Eva bid him good night and left with Sam at her side. The house above was dark as she and Sam saw themselves out, quietly closing the door behind them. To her surprise, Sam grabbed her and pulled her into a one arm hug with enough force he nearly dropped the pizza box in his other hand. “That was great,” he said. “You’re awesome. You’re coming back next week, right?” 

She assured him she was and watched him bound away toward town, yelling at the barely visible Abigail to wait for him as he ran to catch up. Eva smiled to herself as she set off down the mountain path toward the farm, using her phone as a flashlight. She was tired, but she also felt wired, despite the late hour. The sound of a door opening behind her caused Eva to turn. 

Sebastian stepped out of the house, gently closing the door behind him. He waved at her as he leaned against the side of the house and lit a cigarette. “Night, Eva,” he called to her. Then, after she had started walking deeper into the woods, she heard him call after her, “Text me when you get home. Just so I know you made it safe.”

“I will,” Eva promised as she walked deeper into the trees. She was thankful for the dark that hid her giddy grin.

***

“It’s too early for this,” Sebastian grumbled as he walked toward Robin’s red business truck. He felt like glaring at the happy bird she’d chosen as her logo, but that would have taken too much energy.

His mother was standing beside the vehicle, offering him a thermos of coffee and a chipper smile. She had clearly heard his muttering. “It’s almost nine, Sebby,” she gently chided him. “I let you sleep in. You guys stayed up late with your game.”

“Even nine is too early to load cabinets into a truck,” Sebastian answered, ripping the top off the thermos and downing half the coffee in one go. The drink was piping hot and scalded his mouth, but Sebastian didn’t care. He felt like he needed an IV of pure caffeine and adrenaline to keep him moving. Sebastian looked at the open bay door at the side of his mother’s shop and saw the line of cabinets they needed to load. He groaned again. “Why did she have to want so many?”

Robin clapped him on the back. “Come on. The sooner we get them loaded, the sooner we can get started.”

“And the sooner we can finish and I can go back to bed,” Sebastian added, screwing the lid back onto the thermos and setting it inside the truck. 

Sebastian had worked for Robin over summer vacations during middle and high school, so he quickly fell into the familiar rhythm of working alongside his mom. They had the cabinets, drawers, shelves, countertops, and tools loaded into the bed of the truck in short order. Sebastian finished off the thermos of coffee as Robin drove into town. He saluted at Sam as he skated to his job at the Joja Mart. Then, the town proper faded into trees as Robin turned onto the dirt road that led to Mistwood Farm. They had to pull over to let a large box truck go past on its way back to town. Robin’s smile grew impossibly wider at the sight of it. “That’ll be Eva’s new appliances. I was worried they wouldn’t be delivered today, or on time. Now we can double check my measurements before we start the installation. If we make good time, we can even hook them up today.”

The tunnel of trees opened up a few minutes after Robin pulled back onto the road, revealing the old farm. Sebastian was struck by just how much work his mom had done on the farmhouse. New siding, fresh paint on the trim, and a new metal roof shone in the early morning sun. It looked like the front porch had been rebuilt as well. “Damn,” he breathed. “You practically built her a new house.”

Robin laughed, saying nothing about his language, something he was always grateful for. She shook her head as she parked in front of the farmhouse. “The house had good bones. I just had to dress it back up.”

“That must have cost her a fortune,” Sebastian commented as he unbuckled his seat belt and began climbing out of the truck. 

“It did,” Robin admitted across the cab. “She must have made a lot back at Joja. I know she’s always paid in cash for everything she’s asked me to do.” She pulled her work gloves from the door storage. “Let’s get to work. Go open the door and we’ll start moving the cabinets inside.”

Sebastian went up to the front porch and knocked on the door. He heard his mother laughing behind him. When he looked over his shoulder at her, she said, “Eva won’t be inside, so just open it. She gets up even earlier than me.”

“Woman is insane, then,” Sebastian muttered, pushing the front door open and returning to help his mom unload. It took them longer to unload, having to navigate the stairs, the narrow door, and the plastic sheets Robin had hung from the loft railings above the kitchen to keep the mess of demolition and renovation from spreading throughout the rest of the house. With every trip into the house, Sebastian noticed a new detail about the house and Eva’s decor of choice. The sheer number of potted plants. The bookshelves built into the wall around the stone fireplace that were filled to bursting with books and decorative knick knacks, all artfully arranged. Most of the books were nonfiction history and biographies, but Sebastian didn’t miss the one shelf that was mostly taken up by period dramas and romances. There was a smart speaker nestled on one shelf. The string lights draped along the loft’s edge and the trailing plant that looked like it was taking over the railing. The sheer white curtains giving privacy to the loft, which Robin mentioned was Eva’s bedroom. The worn antique couch in the living room that paired surprisingly well with the overstuffed armchair and modern side chairs. The subtle peacock feather motif on the couch and the accent pillows that pulled the bright colors into other parts of the room. There was a rolled up yoga mat leaning in a corner. Sebastian spotted his copy of The Broken Sword on the small table beside the fluffy armchair, a metal bookmark halfway through the pages. The entire farmhouse gave him the impression of a magazine, or one of those “cozy places” the internet seemed to love to spotlight. He became acutely aware of the dirt he was tracking across the floor as a result. 

Eva did not make an appearance as Sebastian and Robin finished unloading and began to work. The woman didn’t even appear when they broke for lunch, eating the cold cut sandwiches Robin had packed for them both while they sat in the floor. When Sebastian mentioned it to his mother, Robin shrugged, saying, “She didn’t come in for lunch yesterday either.”

For some reason, that fact bothered Sebastian. If she hadn’t texted him when she’d gotten home last night, he’d have worried she hadn’t made it home after the session. He remembered the pinched expression on her face the night before, when it had just been the two of them in his room. It had looked like it was more than just her concern over her father and the general upset from the day’s headlines. Even through her makeup, he had noticed the redness around her eyes, as well as the dark circles underneath. “Everything okay with her?” Sebastian asked, trying to sound casual.

Robin shrugged. “Eva’s always seemed strong to me. She’s taken some punches in the past few months, that’s for sure, but she’s rolled with them and kept going. She’s probably just working too much.” Robin gave him a pointed look. “Like someone else I know.”

The afternoon continued much the same as the morning had. Robin set Sebastian to installing the countertops on top of the cabinets while she began mounting the wall ovens. Sebastian was half in a cabinet, half sprawled across the floor, an air nailer in his hand, when he felt a weight move across his stomach. He lifted his head to find a bushy black cat sitting on his chest. “Hey, cat,” he said. The cat only blinked his large yellow eyes at him.

“That’s Naru,” he heard Robin say. “Be careful with him, he likes--”

Naru leaned to rub one fluffy cheek against Sebastian’s face, then nipped the tip of his nose. Hard. Sebastian yelped, barely able to not drop the air nailer on his head. Naru scampered away with his tail hitched up in the air, skidding across the stone floor and bursting out of the plastic drapes. 

“--to bite,” Robin finished, chuckling to herself. 

“Thanks to the warning,” Sebastian grumbled, rubbing his nose. He finished attaching the counter to the cabinets and pushed himself out of the cabinet. Then, he processed the cat’s name. “Wait, Eva named her cat Naru?” he asked. Robin only grunted in reply, wrestling the ovens into place. Sebastian remained sprawled across the floor, thinking there was little chance someone like Eva knew of the anime he was thinking of, let alone had named her cat after one of the main characters.

The plastic parted and Eva stepped inside, two large harvest baskets in her hands. “Hey Robin, Sebastian,” she called as she made her way to the cellar door Sebastian hadn’t noticed before. Eva set the baskets down with a sigh of relief, remaining stooped to pick up a radish that had tumbled out. She then straightened, mopping her face with a sleeve. “This looks wonderful, Robin,” she breathed, looking around at the work they had done. 

“It’ll look even better once I put the tile backsplash in and paint,” Robin said, finally shoving the ovens into place. She stood back and dusted her hands off proudly. Robin pulled one of her gloves away from her wrist to check her watch. “Oh, it’s almost six already. Time to clean up, I guess. We’ll install the dishwasher and range tomorrow after we do the tile.” She began gathering up the tools they’d left scattered around the kitchen. “I asked Maru to bring us dinner by, when she got off work from the clinic. She’s bringing enough for you, too, Eva. I know it’s hard to function with your kitchen torn apart.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Robin,” Eva said. “But I really appreciate it.”

Robin beamed at her as she made her way outside. “I’m going to take this load to the truck, and then get some fresh air for a bit before carrying the rest out.” The plastic crinkled as it fell closed behind her.

Sebastian hauled himself up off the floor. “Your cat is a monster, by the way,” he stated. 

Eva grimaced. “He bit you, didn’t he?” She heaved a sigh when he nodded, pointing at his nose. “Sorry. He’s incorrigible. He thinks it’s funny, for some reason.”

Sebastian dusted himself off. His black jeans were streaked with dust and glue. “Why Naru?” he asked, leaning against the newly installed counter. 

To his surprise, Eva stumbled over her response. “Oh, my roommate, the one who played D&D, watched this anime every Halloween night. I ended up watching it with her that first fall semester, and… I just really liked the love interest, so I named my cat after him. I watch the entire season every Halloween now, too.”

Sebastian blinked. “You’ve seen _Ghost Hunt_? No one has seen _Ghost Hunt_. That fandom is ridiculously small. No one knows about it. Of all the anime you could know, you’ve seen _Ghost Hunt_?”

Eva’s face lit up as she faced him again. “I actually love it,” she admitted. “That makes me a nerd, doesn’t it?”

“Pretty sure all the history books already did that,” Sebastian said, gesturing toward her living room and causing her to laugh. 

The plastic crinkled again and they both turned to see Maru poking her head through. “Dinner is here. It’s on the front porch, by the swing. Mom is on the phone with Dad, from the sound of it.” She held out a bottle of water to Sebastian. “Mom also said to give you this.”

He moved to take the water from her. “Did he forget she’s working again?” Sebastian asked his sister as he unscrewed the cap off the bottle.

Maru rolled her eyes. “Sounds like it.” Then, she snapped her fingers and pointed at Sebastian. “Oh, and Penny told me that she heard from Leah who was told by Emily last night that Haley is expecting a text from you.”

Sebastian paused in lifting the bottle to his mouth. “You’re gonna have to say that again,” he said.

“Penny told me that she heard -- Yeah, I’m not saying it again. Point is, Haley wants you to text her,” Marus stated.

Sebastian held his arms out wide, his face screwed up in annoyance. “Why couldn’t you have said that in the first place? And why would she want that? What happened to Alex? Did I miss the memo I’m back in fashion, or something?”

Eva chuckled, hopping up onto the washing machine on the opposite wall. “Black is always in vogue for autumn,” she said with a mischievous grin.

“So is Alex’s stupid letterman jacket,” Sebastian returned flatly.

Maru just held her hands up. “I’m just relaying the message. I know nothing else.”

“Well, send a message down that hive mind thing all you girls seem to have that the answer is no,” Sebastian stated.

Eva looked over at Maru and said in a serious tone, “He knows about the hive mind thing.”

Maru giggled before replying, “Guess we’ll have to kill him now.” She hid her mouth behind a hand as she continued giggling. “I have to go home and study,” she managed to squeak out. Then, she disappeared through the plastic.

Sebastian shook his head, then took another drink of water. When he finished, he found Eva was looking at him, arms crossed on her legs in front of her. She was studying the blackwork tattoos visible on his arms and disappearing under his t-shirt sleeves.When she realized he had caught her, Eva flashed him an embarrassed smile. “Sorry,” she muttered, reaching up to run a hand through the strands of hair that had fallen from her bun to frame her face. “They’re nice,” she said.

“Thanks,” Sebastian answered. 

Eva opened her mouth, then closed it without speaking, her eyes flicking from one side to the other. Before Sebastian could press her, she said, “I have to ask. Did you really date Haley?”

“Yeah,” he answered, moving to stand next to her perch on the washing machine. “Shocking, I know.”

“I’m trying to fathom how that even happened.”

“Same, actually,” Sebastian said, earning a huff of laughter from Eva. “I think she only dated me for my motorcycle. It didn’t last long. The novelty must have worn off.” He glanced sideways at her. “Don’t ask about the second time. Even I don’t know what happened there.” He shrugged. “It was the year after high school, so it’s been a while. Honestly, I thought she’d forgotten I existed.”

“We all have those relationships,” Eva said.

Sebastian cocked his head to the side. “Well, let’s hear yours.”

Robin called to them from the front porch, reminding them of dinner. Eva hopped down from the washing machine and a secretive smile. “Not a chance,” she said, laughing, as they walked out to the porch together. Sebastian sat on the porch while Robin and Eva sat side by side on the swing. They ate their dinner of spaghetti and salad in relative silence, all three exhausted from a long day’s work. Sebastian listened while Robin and Eva quietly chatted about their respective jobs. Setting his now empty takeout box to the side, he leaned his head back against the house and looked out over Mistwood Farm. He remembered how overgrown the land had become. He and Sam had often joined Abigail here, when they were all much younger. Abigail would have a large stick in hand, slashing at the tall grass like it was a sword and pretending they were legendary adventures, just like in their games. This was where Sebastian had smoked his first cigarette, junior year of high school, as far from his home as he could get with a fresh driver’s license and no car. Then, the property had felt like another world, wild and alone. It had called to him, and Sebastian had spent hours sitting by the fish pond in the south, just listening to the sound of the wind in the trees.

Now, he could see Eva’s orderly mark everywhere. The tall grass was gone, at least on the land closest to the house. In its place, neat fields and rows of crops grew, with new wooden fences running along the edges. Sebastian could see the beginning of an orchard closer to the river that cut through the farm. The old windmill shed and greenhouse was still in shambles, but the area around both had been cleared. It was all painted in orange and pink as the sun began to set. Sebastian closed his eyes as a cool breeze swept over the farmhouse’s hill to relieve the summer mugginess, and sighed. A set of windchimes hanging on the porch sounded, low and deep. Eva had left as many of the old trees as possible, and the wind sighed through their branches and leaves. Sebastian smiled to himself, glad that sound hadn’t changed. 

He jumped when something nudged his leg. Sebastian’s eyes flew open, finding his mom standing over him with her usual cheerful smile. “Come on. Eva won’t thank me if I let you go comatose on her porch.” 

Sebastian looked around and saw that Eva was no longer sitting in the porch swing. It was fully dark. Rubbing a hand across his eyes, he started to rise, only to find Naru sprawled over his legs. “Sorry, cat,” he mumbled as he lifted the black cat off and set him back on the porch. Yellow eyes blinked at him in sleepy outrage. Sebastian gave Naru a couple of soothing strokes, then stood, taking Robin’s offered hand to help him to his feet. 

He climbed into the truck, catching sight of a bobbing light off in the distance, toward the river. Robin saw it, too, as she settled into the driver’s seat and closed the door. She shook her head. “I’m afraid that girl is going to work herself to death,” she said quietly. Then, Robin put the truck into gear and pulled away from the farmhouse. 

They rode in silence all the way back through town and up into the mountains. Robin said they could leave the tools in the truck for the night and just unload in the morning, before heading back to Mistwood to tile and paint. They both trudged inside through the shop’s bay, Sebastian grunting as he helped his mom close the large door. His muscles were already starting to grow sore. 

Inside, Robin stepped behind the counter and opened a drawer. “Hang on, Sebastian,” she called, stopping him from disappearing down to his room. He walked back toward her, a questioning look on his face. When Robin walked back around the counter, he saw the stack of bills in her hand. “Here,” she said. “You definitely earned it today.”

Sebastian did not move to take the money. “Pay me when the job is done, Mom. That’s how that works.”

“I want you to know that you can take a contract if you get it,” Robin said. “You don’t have to do the entire job with me to get paid. So, I’m going to go ahead and pay you.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Just pay me whenever, Mom. You don’t have to do it now.”

“Whenever includes now, Sebby.”

“I mean…” Sebastian ran a hand through his hair and looked away from his mom. “Mom, I know things are hard, financially, right now.”

Robin’s cheerful expression fell from her face. “Demetrius shouldn’t have told you,” she said, nearly growling. 

“Well, he did.” Sebastian didn’t have the heart to tell her he’d done more than that. His stepfather had asked -- practically insisted -- that Sebastian pay the next two months rent early. And he had, if only to avoid another argument with the man, even if it had made a noticeable dent in what little savings he had.

Robin walked over to him. She grabbed Sebastian’s hand and pulled it open, dropping the bills in his hand. “You let me deal with Demetrius,” she said. Then, she gave him a gentle push toward the stairs. “Now, go take a shower and go to sleep. We’ve got more work to do tomorrow.” As he took a reluctant step away from her, still considering if he should take the money now or wait until later, she flashed him a bright grin. “Go, Sebastian. You don’t want to look like an undead vampire when you see Eva tomorrow, do you?”

“All vampires are undead, Mom,” Sebastian replied with a chuckle. 

“Nice dodge,” Robin said, giving him a teasing look. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you styled your hair just to go work.” Her expression softened into a knowing smile.

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m not having this conversation right now, Mom. I’m going to a shower.” He saw Robin’s silent squeal growing even as he started turning. Sebastian faced his mom, taking a couple of steps backwards and holding his hands in front of him. “Mom, can you… Can you just not meddle with this?”

Robin practically danced in place, finally releasing her building squeal. “I knew you liked her!” 

Sebastian left her standing in the center of her darkened shop and retreated downstairs, rolling his eyes at her behavior. Though, there was a large smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read, left kudos, and commented so far! 
> 
> I highly recommend reading Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword" if you're into fantasy. I listened to the audiobook during a road trip and it was very enjoyable. If you enjoy reading Tolkien, give Anderson a go!
> 
> Also, go watch the anime show "Ghost Hunt". Seriously. It's one of my favorites and the fandom needs to grow.


	4. Chapter 4

> The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.  
>  F. Scott Fitzgerald

The clock read 5:15. Eva wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, being careful not to smear blackberry jam across her face. The change of the seasons from summer to autumn had brought blackberries bursting out of every bush, hedgerow, and even the ground -- or so it seemed. While Eva’s fields were still filling with pumpkins, yams, corn, eggplants, and beets, she felt like she was drowning in blackberries. She fished the final jars of jam from the canner on her new rangetop and set them to cool. Already, her newly renovated kitchen was filled with the random pops of the can lids setting, her countertops nearly completely covered with jam jars. Eva shook her head with a half grin on her face, looking down at Naru sitting by her feet. “What are going to do with it all, Naru?” she asked. Naru meowed back at her and stood to rub against her legs. Eva laughed. “I can’t pet you right now,” she said, holding her sticky hands out to him. The cat rose on his back legs and started licking her fingertips. Eva nudged him away with her foot, straightening and turning to turn on the sink faucet with her elbow. “You don’t need jam, Naru. It’s not good for you.”

As she scrubbed the sugary mess from her hands, she thought of everything she had accomplished that day with pride. She’d finished processing the last of her summer harvest that morning. Her freezer and the deep freezer in the basement was full of frozen peppers, blueberries, and corn. The kitchen table held stacks of jars filled with pickled radishes, peppers and dried tomatoes in oil, and red cabbage sauerkraut. She looked over the mess that was her kitchen with pride. Glancing at the clock again, she tossed the dish towel onto the counter and went to get ready. It was Monday night. It was game night. 

Eva quickly changed clothes, opting for a comfortable t-shirt and black leggings, and put on makeup, pausing in front of the long mirror on the back of the bathroom door to pull her hair from the messy bun it was in and shaking the resulting waves out. She hurried through the farmhouse, grabbing her backpack and the still warm dish from the last bit of counter space she had. The smell of hot cheese sticks and homemade pepper poppers filled her nose and her mouth watered. Eva set the dish into a canvas bag, set the straps on her shoulder, and bid Naru a good night as she stepped out the door. 

The mountain path between Mistwood and the Kael-Lautrec house was now quite familiar to Eva. She hurried through the woods and let herself into the house’s front door. Robin was behind the shop counter, putting a final clear coat on a small end table. “Evening, Eva,” she called without looking up from her work. Eva returned the greeting before heading downstairs. 

Abigail was already there, playing a game on her phone. Sebastian was hovering over the gaming table, setting up the session’s map and terrain. Eva had quickly learned Sebastian enjoyed ending their gaming sessions with cliffhangers, and last week had been no exception. They had tracked the source of the magical blight threatening Blightvale and the surrounding countryside to a rogue fey court. They had managed to infiltrate the court, only to be caught by the visiting entourage of Queen Mab herself. That was where Sebastian had chosen to end, and Eva had spent the past week thinking and strategizing how best to get the party out of their predicament. 

“Hi, Eva,” Abigail said. “You’re late.”

“She’s not late,” Sebastian countered, turning a tree upon the battlemat. 

“Later than she usually is,” Abigail replied. 

Eva set her things down along the edge of the table. “I’ve been busy,” she stated. “I think I canned nearly fifty jars of blackberry jam this afternoon.”

“Damn,” Abigail said. Then, she pumped her fist into the air with a triumphant shout. “Yes! That level was so annoying.” She tossed her phone to the side and pulled her feet up onto Sebastian’s couch. “Things going better so far this season? Dad mentioned the summer was rough on you.”

“If I never grow another tomato, it’ll be too soon,” Eva said, sinking into one of the table’s beanbag chairs. “I’m just glad I ended up with enough to sell to make the money back, plus some to keep for myself. I spent yesterday canning diced tomatoes and pasta sauce.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I used to love the idea of canning, but I’m starting to rethink that,” she added with a tired sigh.

“Well, you didn’t hear this from me, but Dad only grows a few pumpkins each year, and most of those he sells outside Pelican Town, so if you want to make a killing for Spirit’s Eve…” Abigail said, wiggling her eyebrows at Eva.

Eva nodded. “I understand. Thanks for the tip.”

“Insider trading is illegal,” Sebastian stated, sitting down in his seat beside Eva. 

Abigail shrugged. “And so is a lot of things we did in high school. Remember that time we all nearly got arrested?”

Eva perked up. “What?”

Sebastian wagged a finger at Abigail. “Let me fix that for you, Abby. Remember that time you and Sam didn’t listen to me, the sole voice of reason for once, and nearly got us all arrested?”

Eva was about to playfully demand the full story when Sam burst into the room. “Dude, turn on the TV to the news!” he shouted, rushing over to Sebastian’s TV and snatching up the remote. “We may have just won the war! Dad could come home!” A few button presses had the TV on and tuned into the news. Sam bounced up and down with excitement as the news piece played. Grainy footage showed a large dirigible being shot down by a Republic battleship, fire ripping through the metal balloon that kept it in the air. Eva’s heart stuttered almost to a complete stop before beginning to pound. She could just make out the airship’s name painted along the side of its gondola. _Keening_. 

Sam was jumping and pointing. “That’s Gotoro’s flagship for the whole airforce. It’s a huge deal, and we just shot it down! This could be the thing that makes them surrender.”

“Why was it out over the ocean?” Abigail asked, leaning to better see the TV. “I thought Gotoro kept their airforce over the islands.”

“There was some kind of prisoner exchange,” Sam answered, eyes locked on the news footage. “When it was over, the commander of that ship gave orders to open fire on the _Keening_.”

“That feels like a low blow,” Abigail said quietly, a scowl forming on her face. 

Sebastian was shaking his head. “It’s a sucker punch.”

“But this could mean Dad might come home soon!” Sam shouted, half turning to his friends. “I don’t really care at this point.” Then, he turned back to the TV and shouted, “Take that, Goons!”

“Hey,” Sebastian snapped at him. “Not okay, Sam. Eva’s from Gotoro, remember?”

Eva barely heard Sam’s muttered, “Sorry, Eva. I didn’t mean you, you know.” Her brain didn’t even register the slur. She pressed shaking hands to her mouth, watching with wide eyes as the _Keening_ careened toward the ocean waves below, trailing thick black smoke. Figures were jumping over the side in a futile attempt to escape certain death. Then, the entire airship exploded. Eva couldn’t breathe, no matter how much she panted and tried to suck in air. 

“You don’t look good, Eva,” Abigail said from the couch, causing Sebastian to turn from the TV. Eva saw him put it all together in an instant.

She dove for her purse, ripped her phone from inside, and bolted through the door and up the stairs. Eva ran past the laboratory, the open door showing Robin now inside with Demetrius, both watching the same scene on a mini TV. Eva barely registered hearing Sebastian shout after her from the bottom of the stairs, or the sound of him taking the stairs two at a time to follow. She just burst through the home’s front door, already pressing her father’s number. 

“Pick up, please pick up,” she breathed as she stood in the middle of the dirt path outside. The chill in the autumn air pricked at the back of her throat. She listened to the line ring and ring and ring, and then her father’s voicemail pick up. “No,” Eva gasped, cancelling the call just to start a new one. 

Sebastian hurtled through the door and rushed to her side. “Eva,” he began.

“My father was on that ship,” Eva cried, tears starting to fall down her face. “Oh God…” She pressed her phone to her ear once more, only to hear the line ring and go to voicemail again. “He’s not answering!” 

_Be strong. Be strong_ , she told herself, focusing on those words instead of the reeling emotions threatening to pull her down. She had survived years of little sleep to earn her degrees in half the time. She had survived watching her dreams be snatched away from her through politics and budget cuts. She had survived the mind-numbing work at Joja Corp, and still managed to thrive. She had survived losing that job, moving to a new town, and starting over from scratch. Eva tried to remind herself she had survived every one of her hard days. She had already been through the death of one parent. She could make it through another one. She had to. No one was going to catch her if she fell apart. _Be strong, damn it!_

Eva felt her knees give way. She would have dropped to the ground if Sebastian had not caught her. She pressed her face against his chest, wanting nothing more than to let the building sobs free. The feeling of Sebastian wrapping his arms around her held her together. Eva heard the front door open again, followed by Robin’s voice. “What can I do?” 

“Grab my keys from downstairs. And my wallet. I’m gonna take her home.”

Eva barely caught Robin’s quiet, “Don’t leave her alone with this, Sebastian.” But she clearly felt Sebastian’s nod against the top of her head. Robin said, “I’ll let Sam and Abby know what’s going on.” Eva heard her return to the house.

“Hey,” Sebastian said into her hair. “My bike is in the garage over here. Come on.” 

With automatic motions, Eva let him lead her to the garage and stood hugging herself tightly as he hauled the door open and rolled the motorcycle onto the path. Robin came back outside, Sebastian’s wallet and keys in one hand and Eva’s purse in the other. She handed it all to Sebastian without a word, then went back inside. Sebastian stuffed his wallet into his back pocket, then stored Eva’s backpack on the back. When he turned back around, he held out a helmet to her. Eva took it wordlessly, putting it on without thinking. Sebastian checked the chin strap before putting his own helmet on and sitting down on the bike. “Let’s go home,” he said, patting the seat behind him. 

Eva climbed on and wrapped her arms around his waist, clutching to the fabric of his shirt. She was still holding her phone in one hand, but Eva couldn’t make herself put it away. _What if Daddy calls me? I won’t hear it over the motorcycle._ She felt Sebastian pat her hands once before he set the bike into motion, heading into town. Eva closed her eyes and let her head rest against Sebastian’s back, trying to focus on the roar of the motorcycle and nothing else. 

_Be strong, be strong._

The motorcycle slowed and then quieted. When Eva looked up, she realized they were back at the farm. She climbed off, pulling the helmet from her head and letting Sebastian take it. Then, she went inside, not knowing what else to do. Eva sat down on the couch, unlocking her phone and trying her father’s number again. Nothing but ringing and voicemail. This time, she listened to her father’s voice. When the message ended and the recording beeped, her voice was calm as she left a message. “Hey Daddy. It’s Eva. I just saw the news. I just wanted to call to see if you…” Her voice cracked and she paused, sucking in a deep breath before continuing. “I just wanted to see if you are okay. Call me when you get this. I love you.”

She ended the call and cradled her phone in both hands. Eva heard the door open and close and Naru meow. She looked up to see Sebastian coming to sit beside her. “I’m not even going to ask if you’re okay,” he said softly.

“I’m okay,” Eva said. “Just worried. It was a shock, that’s all.”

Sebastian gave her a careful look she didn’t fully understand. “A shock,” he repeated slowly. “Yeah, okay.”

“Daddy will call me when he gets my message. When he can,” Eva said, more to herself than to Sebastian. He didn’t say anything. He just draped his arm around her shoulders. Eva leaned against him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. After several minutes, she felt Sebastian let his head drop against hers. “You can go home,” Eva told him. “I’m fine, really. I’ll just stay up waiting for him to call. There’s no sense in everyone’s game night being ruined because of me.”

“I’m staying,” came his answer. The part deep inside Eva that was sobbing was grateful for it. She nestled closer to him, tears beginning to slip from her eyes. _Be strong_ , she reminded herself, squinting her eyes shut to hold them back. Eva was half dozing when she heard Sebastian say, “Sorry Sam’s an idiot.”

“I already knew that,” Eva replied with a smile she didn’t fully feel. “It’s okay. He didn’t know. And I understand where he’s coming from.”

“Yeah, I guess you do,” Sebastian answered. 

They sat together in silence after that. Naru came over, sniffed Sebastian’s boots, then jumped onto the couch to curl up beside him. Sebastian scratched the cat behind the ears. Eva wasn’t sure if him rubbing her arm with his other hand was intentional or not. She wasn’t going to ask and risk him stopping. She looked down at her silent phone, closed her eyes, and waited.

***

At first, Sebastian thought little of the vibrating he felt against his legs. Naru had been rumbling beside him for most of the night, the cat purring beneath his hand. Sebastian shifted to let his head better rest on the back of the couch and rolled away from the light of the lamp on a nearby small table. He left his eyes closed, trying to find deep sleep again. A chiming sound joined the vibrating, and Eva stirred. She had fallen asleep against his shoulder, and sometime during the night slipped to lay curled in his lap. 

Suddenly, Eva jerked awake and bolted upright, startling both Sebastian and Naru. The black cat scrambled off the couch and ran to hide under the kitchen table. Sebastian blinked sleep from his eyes, finding Eva sitting up and frantically accepting what looked like a video call. The screen flickered for a moment as the video buffered, and then filled with the image of an older, but still fit, man sitting in a concrete bunker. There were small scrapes and cuts on his rugged face, and a white bandage was wrapped around one arm, peeking out from under the sleeve of his white undershirt. Sebastian thought he spotted a military jacket hanging on the back of the man’s chair. There were medals hanging from the jacket’s left breast. The man flashed a weary smile as Eva’s image loaded on his end. “Queenie,” he said, his accent thicker than Eva’s posh one. 

“Are you okay, Daddy?” Eva asked. Sebastian was surprised to hear just how steady her voice was. He glanced at her face. It was smooth and calm, with no remains of the worry and fear he had seen before. “I saw the news.”

“A bit banged up,” her father answered. “But, I’m all right. Better than a lot of the blokes that weren’t evacuated, at least,” he added sadly.

“Where are you?”

The man shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that at the moment. But know I’m safe.”

Sebastian was speaking before he could stop himself. “Did they really shoot the airship down during a truce? That’s a war crime, isn’t it?”

Eva’s father started at the sound of Sebastian’s voice. He leaned in his chair, as if doing so would let him look around Eva’s form. He must have been able to see Sebastian over her shoulder, because he smiled. “Ah, you must be Sebastian,” he said, leaving Sebastian to wonder how he knew him. The idea that Eva had discussed him with her father was… Sebastian didn’t know what it was. He hadn’t had enough coffee to explore the feelings it raised. 

“I’ll go make coffee,” Sebastian muttered, pushing himself up off the couch and walking into the darkened kitchen. Naru bounded out from under the table, swatted at the laces of one boot, and then fell into step at his side. Sebastian reached down to stroke the cat’s head and was rewarded with a small meow. 

From the living room he heard Eva’s father chuckle. “Oh, so he knows where the coffee maker is, does he?” Sebastian could tell from the icy silence that Eva was giving him one of her glares. Sebastian had received a few of them over the last few weeks of summer, mostly during game night, but also when he would make a particularly difficult shot in pool on Friday nights at the saloon. Sam and Abigail had invited Eva to join them, and she had, taking it upon herself to defeat Sebastian in at pool. For a moment, Sebastian almost felt sorry for the man on the other end of the call. Eva’s glares were nothing to take lightly. Sebastian began making coffee, trying not to listen to their conversation. As he looked for her coffee supplies, he noticed that most of the open shelves over the range were filled with small spice bottles. Why anyone needed that many different spices was beyond Sebastian. He didn’t even know how to pronounce most of them. Back in the living room, Eva asked the same question as he had, and her father began to answer. “Yes, Republic forces broke a temporary cease fire, after they got their men back. Don’t scowl, Eva. This is a good thing, actually.”

“How is it a good thing?” Eva exclaimed.

“It means Ferngill is feeling desperate. Maybe as desperate as Gotoro is. With sentiments toward the war lagging in Ferngill, there is pressure to end the war, by any means. And Sebastian is right. What that captain did was a war crime. It broke international laws. So, now, we have leverage going into the negotiations scheduled for the winter. Either Ferngill backs down and accepts peace, and we all go back to being suspicious of each other, or the people of the Republic will begin to turn on their leaders. Next year is an election year, and they understand that.”

“But the _Keening_ …” Eva said.

“It was just a ship, Queenie. A good one, but it was just a bunch of metal,” came her father’s reply. “Losing the _Keening_ is already having an effect on local morale. This could also make the higher ups less likely to press on with the war.” He huffed, and Sebastian could almost hear him smiling. “This may be the best thing that has happened for us all in years, Eva. This may be the event that ends the war, on both sides. If I had known it would have had this immediate an effect, I would have torched the Keening myself.”

Sebastian poured the fresh coffee into the two mugs he had found hanging underneath a cabinet and carried them back to the couch. Naru bounded playfully behind him, then darted in front of his feet to leap up into Eva’s lap. Sebastian almost stumbled over the cat. Eva smiled gratefully at him as she accepted her mug. Sebastian remained standing, checking to make sure he was off camera. 

Not that it mattered. Eva’s father saw the cup of coffee in his daughter’s hand and checked the watch on his wrist. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s, what… around four in the morning your time?” Sebastian cringed. Eva just glared again, causing her father to burst into booming laughter. “I”m guessing you heard the news during your game night,” he said, and Eva only nodded, her gaze still cool, as if she was daring her father to tease her further. Her father leaned to the side, once again trying to see Sebastian. “Thank you for looking after my Queenie, Sebastian. I’ve heard you’ve been a good friend.”

Sebastian took a step toward the couch, seeing himself come into frame on the small thumbnail of Eva’s camera view. He gave a small salute of his mug. “It’s no problem, Mr. Lang,” he said simply. 

Her father laughed again. Sebastian thought the sound was warm, and for a moment he wished he had a father like Eva did. “Please, son, call me Urso,” the man said. “No need for formalities. I have enough of those in the military.”

A metal door screeched open off camera and Urso’s face fell. He wordlessly held up a finger to the camera, then muted himself. He spoke to someone out of the frame for a moment, his face growing grave as he took what might have been a report. After a short discussion with the other person, Urso turned back to the camera and turned his mic back on. Eva sighed. “You have to go,” she stated.

Urso’s smile was sad. “I do. It’s always too short. I’m praying that this whole thing is over by Winter Star and I can come see you. Keep sending me pictures of the farm, Eva. I’m enjoying them. Take care, Sebastian.” The farewell surprised Sebastian and he couldn’t think of a response fast enough. Urso looked lovingly into the camera at Eva. “I love you, Queenie. I’m proud of you.”

“Love you too, Daddy. Stay safe.” Eva ended the video call with a heavy sigh. For a moment, she remained still, staring blankly at the far wall. Just when Sebastian was going to ask if she was okay, she stood. “It’s time for me to get started with my day,” she said, her voice taking on a business-like tone.

Sebastian only flatly stared at her. “It’s four-thirty in the morning,” he stated. 

“Yes, it is,” Eva answered, moving past him. Naru jumped off the couch and raced after her, meowing loudly. “I’ll feed you in a minute,” Eva lovingly hissed at the cat. 

“You’re insane,” Sebastian muttered. “It’s not even light outside yet.”

Eva drained her coffee in a quick series of gulps, then grimaced. “You couldn’t add some sugar or cream to it?” she asked, a shudder rippling through her. 

“You don’t like your coffee straight black?”

He watched her rinse her mug and set it in the sink. “There’s only a few things I like black and straight,” Eva replied, throwing a sultry look over her shoulder at him. “Like jeans and trousers, of course.” Sebastian snorted. Eva brushed her hair from her face. “Feel free to sleep on the couch if you’re too sleepy to drive back,” she said. “I’ll be outside in a bit, so I won’t bother you.”

Sebastian considered it, then decided against it. “And risk that demon cat biting me again? No thanks.” He grabbed his keys off the coffee table. “I’ll be fine once I finish my coffee.”

Eva nodded, then announced she was going to take a shower. She disappeared up the steep stairs that led to the loft to grab a change of clothes, Naru following behind her yowling for breakfast. Sebastian quickly finished his coffee, rinsing his cup before putting it in the sink like Eva had hers. He waved goodbye to her as she came back downstairs, then let himself out. 

His motorcycle roared to life and he drove away from Mistwood Farm, opting to take a small dirt trail from the main road up into the mountain path above his house instead of driving through town. Mayor Lewis would have a few things to say to him if he woke up the entire town with his motorcycle. The lights were all still off when he got home. Sebastian parked in the garage and tried to close the door as quietly as possible. Once inside, he scribbled out a short note to leave by his mom’s computer - _Eva’s dad is okay. He made it off the airship. I got home after 4am._ Then, he dragged himself downstairs to his room. He flicked on the lights, knowing he wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. He might as well get a headstart on work for the day. Sebastian found his room tidy. Clearly Sam and Abigail had straightened up last night. He sank down into his office chair and turned on his monitors. 

He had hardly been working for an hour before he heard footsteps on the stairs. Sebastian looked up to see Demetrius opening the door, closing it behind him once he stepped inside. That didn’t bode well. Demetrius crossed his arms over his chest. “You just get home?” he asked.

“About an hour ago,” Sebastian answered. “That a problem?”

His stepfather’s disapproval of his tone was clear on his face. “It is, actually. It was inappropriate to stay so late at Eva’s house. She’s a good girl, and I don’t want you to become a bad influence on her.”

Sebastian huffed, rolling his eyes. “Mom didn’t want me to leave her alone. Eva thought her father had just been killed. I stayed with her until she heard from him, that’s it.”

Demetrius didn’t seem convinced. “It was still inappropriate,” he said stubbornly. “And you didn’t answer your phone.”

A quick glance to the side and Sebastian found his phone, plugged up to the charger running from his computer. A little slip of paper was tucked under it, and he recognized Abigail’s handwriting, all the I’s dotted with tiny hearts. _Let us know if Eva’s okay. Sam’s sick over it. Sorry if we didn’t put everything back like you like it. There’s leftover pizza and Eva’s cheese sticks in the fridge upstairs. Sam stress ate all the pepper poppers._ Sebastian smiled to himself, pulling the note towards him. At least his friends always had his back.

“Sebastian,” Demetrius snapped.

“Take it up with Mom,” Sebastian snapped back. “Nothing happened.” He looked back at the code on his screen and started working. Sebastian knew he was hitting his keys too hard, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. The sound of the mechanical keys clicking filled the room. Demetrius cleared his throat from near the door. Sebastian refused to stop working or even look up. “Was there something else?” he asked. 

Demetrius was still standing with his arms crossed. “I need you to pay rent for this month, and the next.”

Sebastian stopped typing then, using a foot to push himself away from his desk. “I’m not your personal ATM, Demetrius,” he said, barely able to keep his tone near civil. “You keep telling me to grow up and move out. How am I supposed to do that if you keep taking the money I save?”

“I’m only asking for the rent you agreed to pay,” Demetrius countered. “Things are tight. Maru’s test prep went up in price.”

“No,” Sebastian said. “I’m not paying early again. That’s not what we all agreed to. You want me to pay in larger lump sums, we’ll have to sit down with Mom and discuss it again.” He pulled himself back to his desk and went back to work. He expected Demetrius to press the subject, but to his surprise, the man didn’t. Demetrius just wrenched open the door and left. When the door shut, Sebastian propped his elbows on the desk and cradled his head in his hands. “I can’t wait to get out of here,” he whispered to himself. With a sigh, he dropped one hand to pick up Abigail’s note. Then, he unplugged his phone and opened it up. He typed out a message to Eva. 

_Abigail says Sam is pissed at himself over last night._

A few minutes later his phone beeped with her reply. 

_Poor Sam. I’ll go talk to him later today. It’s really okay._

He had just set his phone back down when she sent him a picture. It was Naru sitting on a green pumpkin, illuminated from behind by the rising sun. The sun was perfectly aligned between his ears, making them look more like horns. A short caption pinged in under the picture. 

_My little demon cat._

Sebastian snorted, sent back a generic _Sebastian liked PHOTO_ , and went back to work. He glanced down at Abigail’s note and his phone still displaying Eva’s messages. A small smile grew on his face. Maybe he could stand staying just a while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! 100 hits! A big thank you to everyone who has checked this fic out! My husband and I celebrated reaching that milestone over the weekend during our date night. It's the little things, right? And thanks for the kudos! It really brightens my day to see a new one.


	5. Chapter 5

> Destroying someone’s life could be remarkably cathartic.  
>  Kate McNeil, Thistles

The first few weeks of autumn did not bring a dramatic drop in temperature. The days were still hot, often stifling so. The only real change was felt in the breeze, a subtle chill that blew over Pelican Town with more frequency. Eva tilted her face up as one such breeze swept over the mountain lake as she walked towards town, Sebastian smoking a cigarette at her side. She’d walked up to the Kael-Lautrec house an hour earlier to return Sebastian’s copy of _The Broken Sword_ she’d finally been able to finish. The shortening days meant she had more hours in the evenings to read. Thankfully, with the town’s library and Sebastian’s extensive collection, she had no shortage of good books. Eva had curled up on one end of his sofa to begin reading _Blood Song_ by Anthony Ryan, the first of a trilogy Sebastian had said was one of his favorites, while she waited for him to finish his morning’s work. Sebastian was meeting Sam and Abigail for lunch and band practice and he’d suggested they could walk into town together.

The old community center came into view as they neared the town proper. Eva’s peaceful smile morphed into a frown at the sight of Morris and another man in a tailored suit standing in front of the abandoned building. The second man turned as they approached, a sleazy grin spreading across his face like an oil slick. “Well, look who it is,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “Thanks for that job opening back at headquarters. Your old office is quite nice, I have to say.”

“Mac,” Eva said, barely able to keep herself from spitting his name. “They hired you to replace me?”

Mac spread his arms out and shrugged. “Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it? You fired me, then you get fired, and now I’m the director of the department. What a world, huh?” He took a couple of steps forward. Eva would not have missed the full-body look he gave her even had she been blind. She suppressed a shudder. She had forgotten just how vile it had felt when Mac checked her out -- or worse -- from when he had been her employee. Every single one of her complaints and reports of sexual harassment had been met with pointed silence. Eva had been grateful when she caught Mac assisting Morris in securing drilling rights to the north of Pelican Town without going through the proper channels and doing the proper paperwork. She still had no idea how Morris had avoided the purge that had followed afterwards. 

Apparently, Sebastian didn’t miss Mac’s gaze either. He stiffened at her side and took a subtle step forward. Mac noticed, but he just flashed a toothy grin at him and then looked away in the most cocky, dismissive gesture Eva thought she had ever seen. Eva wanted to laugh. Mac thought he was tough, but she had seen Sebastian work when he had helped Robin with the farmhouse’s kitchen. More importantly, she’d seen the lean muscles he so often hid beneath his long sleeves. Sebastian would have Mac out cold on the ground in one, two hits tops. “But, this may be a blessing in disguise, you know?” Mac continued, completely unaware that he was walking a dangerous path with both individuals in front of him.

Eva crossed her arms and flicked a hand at him in a gesture to encourage him to explain. “How so, Mac?” she asked.

Eva had not thought it was possible for Mac to become more repulsive, but he proved her wrong yet again. “Well, now there’s no office regulations stopping you from going home with me.”

Sebastian scoffed at the man. His eyes said he was considering murdering the man, even in broad daylight. Eva only said, “Feel free to hold your breath waiting for my call, Mac. That way it won’t be long before my office is mine again.” Beside her, Sebastian choked back a laugh, quickly taking a drag on his cigarette to cover it. The smirk he tried to hide by looking down at the ground and letting his bangs fall over his face was like fuel to Eva’s fire, and she just needed to stoke the flames. And when she had, she’d burn the whole world to the ground if she had to in order to take her pound of flesh from Joja. With the slowly growing success of Mistwood Farm, Eva had been able to replace her feelings of being lost in the world with anger at Joja, and Morris in particular. Not that those feelings were gone. She had just been able to shove them back down and ignore them. By summer’s end, Eva had gone from crying in the shower every day to only once a week. The rest of the time, she settled for being angry.

Morris had been watching the exchange from the side, but at her words, he strode forward, flipping the black cover of the tablet in his hands over the touchscreen. “Oh, Miss Lang, I’m afraid that’s simply not a possibility. I hate to be the one who tells you this, but you’ve been deemed a serious enemy to Joja Corporation. No set of circumstances would ever see you rehired.” He shook his head, as if saddened by that fact. The wicked, mocking grin on his face suggested the exact opposite. “I am truly sorry. I spoke with the higher ups about the situation after you left.”

Eva hummed in disbelief, knowing Morris had likely smeared her name throughout headquarters long after she’d left, then said, “It’s nice to see my full potential finally realized at headquarters.” A quick glance to the side showed her Sebastian wasn’t even trying to hide his smirk now. He was looking between Mac and Morris like he was trying to figure out which man she was going to eat alive first. Even Mac was starting to lean away from her. Eva’s flat expression twisted into the beginnings of a wicked grin. Mac actually took a step away from her at the sight of it. _Good_ , Eva thought to herself. The man hadn’t completely forgotten what it was like to deal with her. Just to throw them both off guard, Eva smoothed her face into a warm, yet false, smile. “Well, I know how busy you both must be, so we won’t keep you from business any longer.” The sudden change in her expression must have cooled Mac’s interest in her, for he turned away with a half-hearted wave and began to pack up his surveyor’s case that sat on the ground. Eva turned her attention to Morris, and the tablet he held in his hands. “Nice tablet, Morris.”

“Why, thank you, Miss Lang,” Morris said, holding up to let her see it. “I bought it to help me stay better connected to Joja Corp, even during off hours. Work is never done, as you know.” He smiled at her. “It was good to see you, Miss Lang. I wish you all the well,” he said, his voice dripping with false politeness.

Eva did not return his well wishes. She simply turned on her heels and strode away, Sebastian easy falling into step at her side. He leaned closer to her and quietly said, “You know, that tablet Morris has is shit, right? It’s one of the worst models out there, but because it’s overpriced, middle manager types love it.”

“I don’t care if it’s shit or not,” Eva stated, her mind already racing.

“Then why did you compliment it?”

She flashed her wicked smile at him as they neared the steps leading down to the town square. “I wanted to make sure it was his own device that he’s using for work.”

“How did you know it’s his?” Sebastian asked, dropping his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out.

“It’s not in a horrid Joja blue case, for one,” Eva answered. She stopped at the top of the stone steps that cut through the hillside behind Pierre’s store.

“I’m guessing that’s against the rules, using a personal device for work,” Sebastian said flatly as he leaned against the rock face across from her. “And you’re going to report him, aren’t you?” His rebellious smirk was more subtle now as he watched her beginning to scheme.

“No,” Eva replied. “That would make me a hypocrite, since I used my own phone for work. Headquarters recorded every phone call, and I wasn’t comfortable with that. Plus, I didn’t want a Joja blue case.” She looked out over the town, her eyes flicking across the rooftops as she thought. “No, I just want to get my hands on it.”

“Wow,” Sebastian said, chuckling. “That’s a quick jump to petty larceny.”

“I don’t want to keep the tablet,” Eva said, looking back at him. “I just want to see why he’s interested in the community center. Knowing the way he and Mac work, with utter disregard for rules and regulations and law, it could be devastating for Joja if certain documents were to be leaked to the public.”

Sebastian’s mouth fell open for a split second. He recovered quickly, his smile returning in force. “And you just jumped from petty larceny to corporate espionage.”

“More like whistleblowing,” Eva corrected. “I’m not selling the secrets. I’m doing this for revenge.” She looked across the steps at him and noticed the expression on his face as he regarded her. “What is this look you’re giving me, Sebastian?” she asked, her own smile growing to match his. 

Sebastian shrugged and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. “Not sure yet,” he said, pushing away from the stone behind him to start walking once more. “But, it’s a close contest between being terrified of you and being turned on.” He smirked at her as she walked at his side. “I just know I never want to get on your bad side.”

“No, you don’t,” Eva confirmed. When he looked away, she bit her bottom lip to keep from squealing at his first statement. She focused on Morris and his tablet instead. Or tried to. Eva had managed -- quite easily -- to get Haley to talk at length about her past relationship with Sebastian, when she had gone to Haley’s house for a haircut. Most of it had been prattling and Eva had tuned it out. While she had learned nearly all of his favorite things, something Haley had said had stuck with her. _He’s a heartbreaker. I mean, I know people say the same about me, but I just needed time to figure out what I wanted, you know? Sebastian just is a heartbreaker._ And while Eva wasn’t currently thinking about settling down anytime soon, she also had enough worries and anxieties without adding a broken heart into the mix. Plus, the flirtation that was between them had not gone beyond that, and Sebastian did not seem like he wanted to push it any further. Eva had told herself she was fine with that. She’d had several casual relationships over the years herself, had even heard herself be referred to as a heartbreaker and cold bitch. Eva was the kind of woman men found intimidating -- too ambitious, too intelligent, too driven, too independent. Eva had never needed anyone. She had gotten used to men seeing that in her and walking away. And, when she was truly honest with herself, Eva didn’t really know what she wanted, her life still feeling like she was in limbo, stuck between two points and unable to move towards either one. Eva knew she couldn’t fault Sebastian for any unwillingness to settle down into a serious relationship. She didn’t even know if she truly wanted that with the man at her side. But she had still replayed Haley’s words in her head for weeks. Eva subtly shook her head, realizing she was thinking about it again, not focusing on how to get back at Morris. “I just have to figure out how to get access to that tablet,” she said quietly. Eva chewed on her lip as she thought. “Sam might know where Morris keeps it. He works at the Joja Mart.”

Sebastian shook his head as they walked towards Sam’s house. “Bad idea. Sam can’t keep a secret to save his life. He’d start bawling like a baby and piss himself the moment Morris looked at him.” Suddenly, he stopped in his steps, his eyes locked on something across the town square. Eva followed his gaze and found Shane, dressed in his Joja uniform, slouching back to the Joja Mart after his lunch break. “But Shane hates Morris almost as much as you,” Sebastian said. “He might help us if we asked.”

“We?” Eva asked, tilting her head to one side with eyebrows raised. “Since when did you become a part of this plot?”

When Sebastian looked at her, his rebellious smile was back. “I want in,” he stated in a tone that left little room for argument. “It’s been a while since I’ve broken some laws. Past time to prove Demetrius right about me.”

“Let’s go catch Shane before he goes back to work, then,” Eva said, beginning to turn.

Sebastian grabbed her by the arm to stop her. “No, that would be too obvious. We’ll wait until Friday night. The Stardrop is so crowded on Friday nights, no one will notice us taking some time to talk with him.” When Eva gave him a doubtful look, Sebastian’s smile returned. “Trust me.”

Eva nodded, returning his grin with a soft smile. “I trust you,” she said. She bid him goodbye and watched him stride across the square to Sam’s house, then headed back toward the farm.

***

Sebastian leaned over the edge of the pool table in the Stardrop’s rec room and lined up his third shot in a row. Sam was watching from the opposite side, nervously bouncing on the balls of his feet. “If you hop it again,” the blonde said, shaking his head at his friend, “I swear I’ll cry, dude.”

“I tried to teach you how to do it,” Sebastian answered, checking his angles. “It’s not that hard.”

“Says the guy who can do it,” muttered Sam. Then, he said, “Come on, dude, just hit the ball.”

“And miss? Not a chance.”

Sam sighed. “Like you miss.”

“Like you would have a chance to win if he did miss,” Abigail teased from the nearby red couch, where she sat playing a game on her phone. She had her legs thrown over one arm, swinging them and showing off her new purple and white-striped thigh-high socks. A massive bag of sour gummy worms sagged over her stomach as she dug into it for another handful.

“I don’t know why I hang out with you guys,” Sam complained despite the smile he was trying to suppress. 

Movement from the rec room doorway caught Sebastian’s eye just as he finally took his shot. In the quick glance up, he saw Eva walk in, wearing a black skater skirt and a striped top that left her shoulders bare. A thin strip of bare skin showed between the hem of her skirt and the maroon-burgundy-whatever color thigh-high socks she was wearing. She’d opted for heels, the kind with the little strap over the top of the foot. Sebastian’s eyes locked on the classic red lipstick she’d chosen for the night. His aim slipped and he barely kept the tip of the pool cue from gouging the green felt of the table. The white cue ball crashed off course, completely missing his target ball and leaping off the table at Sam. Sam yelped and jumped backwards to avoid getting hit by it. “Woah, Sebastian, what was that?” he yelled as the ball rolled under the table. “I got it!” Sam dropped his own pool cue and dove under the table. 

Sebastian straightened and ran a hand through his hair as Eva walked over. He’d started getting used to seeing her in work overalls and boots or more casual outfits, like the t-shirts and leggings or jeans she wore to game nights. Not that she didn’t look good in those. She absolutely did, at least in Sebastian’s mind. It was just she killed in outfits like this one. Sam crawled out from under the table, white ball in hand, and jumped up. “Hey, Eva,” he said as he brushed the dust off his jeans. “You look nice tonight,” he added, moving back around the table to retrieve his pool cue and take his turn. 

“Thank you, Sam,” Eva said as she perched on the couch’s edge beside Abigail’s legs. 

Abigail sat up and looked down at Eva’s socks. “So hot, girl.”

Eva laughed. “Yours look cute too, Abby.”

“You two planned that, didn’t you?” Sebastian asked, leaning against the back wall. 

Abby kicked one leg up into the air behind Eva’s head. “We’re twins tonight, Sebby!” 

Both women started laughing and Sebastian just shook his head, turning back to the pool table to watch Sam miss his shot completely. He laughed and moved to take his turn. “Nice shot, Sam,” he commented. 

Sam leaned closer, putting his back towards where the two women were chatting. “Hey, dude, I didn’t say anything about your miss when Eva walked it.”

Sebastian glanced at his friend, considering the knowing expression on Sam’s face for a moment. Then he shrugged and knocked a ball into the middle pocket. “I just fucked it up. Tried too hard to hop it over one of yours.”

“Uh huh, whatever,” Sam answered, but he left it at that. Their game finished shortly after, Sebastian winning. Sam groaned loudly. “Every time, dude,” he moaned, shaking his head. “If it wasn’t Gus’ table, I’d say it was rigged.” He tossed his pool cue across the table in frustration. 

“I’d say it was rigged if Eva couldn’t manage to beat Sebby once in a while,” Abigail said, nudging Eva with the back of her hand. 

Sebastian laughed and clapped Sam on the shoulder. “You’re getting better, at least,” he offered. 

Sam waved the compliment off with a huff. He moved to get a Joja Cola out of the nearby vending machine. “Whatever. Eva,” he said, jerking his thumb at the table. “Avenge my honor.”

“You have honor?” Abigail quipped, stretching to grab a slice of pizza from the nearby table.

“With pleasure,” Eva purred as she rose to her feet. Sebastian narrowed his eyes at her and she just flashed him a wide-eyed, innocent smile. She picked up Sam’s discarded cue and began chalking the end. “What’s the wager for this game?” she asked, propping one hip up on the table’s edge. Sebastian forced himself to keep his eyes on her face. He could tell she was watching him from beneath her lashes. Sebastian was not about to let her throw him off his game before it even started. Not again. The last time she had, he’d had to spend an entire Saturday at Mistwood Farm helping her stack firewood. It had become their ritual to place bets on the outcomes of their games. The stakes were always low and often silly, but the past couple of weeks had seen their competition grow more serious. The Friday before, Sebastian had beaten Eva in a close game, and she now owed him a month’s supply of the coffee brand she’d gotten him hooked on back in the summer. Eva had taken the loss personally and had destroyed him, without mercy, in the next game, earning the power to overrule one of his dice rolls after she’d heard the outcome in their next D&D session. From the couch, Abigail and Sam both perked up. The two shared excited looks before turning back to Eva and Sebastian. The wager portion of Sebastian and Eva’s games had quickly become their favorite form of entertainment for Friday nights.

Sebastian thought for a minute, his eyes roaming around the room as he did. For the briefest second, he considered betting a kiss on the game, but quickly decided against it. Sebastian wasn’t sure what was stopping him from making that bet. His eyes flickered back to Eva’s lips and he almost said it. Then, the orange flyer announcing the town’s Spirit Eve festival caught his eye. A half smile formed on his face along with the half-formed idea. “If I win, I get to pick your Spirit’s Eve costume,” Sebastian said.

Abigail let out a long, dramatic, “Oohh!” at the same moment Sam exclaimed, “What would you even pick, Sebastian?” Abigail dug a knee into Sam’s side to silence him, giving him a stern glare. Sam shrank away from her and quickly took a swig of his Joja Cola. 

Eva quirked an eyebrow at Sebastian. “Deal,” she said. “If I win…” She paused to think, tapping her lips with one fingernail. How she managed to keep her nails long and manicured while doing farmwork, Sebastian didn’t know. Then, she regarded him like she was seeing him for the first time, her eyes sweeping down his tall form and then back up, lingering on his black hoodie.

“Are you giving me elevator eyes?” Sebastian asked with a growing grin.

“Hush, I’m thinking,” Eva gently snapped. She stared at him for a while longer. Long enough that Sebastian found himself hoping she was going to wager a kiss. He realized he’d gladly throw a game away if she did. “If I win,” Eva said, “I get to keep your hoodie for a week.”

Sam gasped, almost choking on his soda, then said, “No chance. That’s his favorite--”

“Deal,” Sebastian agreed. 

Sam gaped at him. Abigail bounced in her seat so hard she made Sam’s canned soda spill a little. “This is going to be so intense,” she muttered, pulling her legs up under her.

Sebastian racked the balls, Eva rolling a few across the table to him. She stepped closer to him, close enough he could smell her perfume or whatever. He had no idea what it was, but he liked it. He also realized the thin stripes on her shirt were the same color as her thigh-high socks, now that she was only inches away. “Shane isn’t here,” Eva whispered to him. 

“He’ll be here,” Sebastian whispered back. “Just keep an eye out for him. Your break, by the way.”

Eva nodded and started their game. Abigail’s prediction came true almost instantly. After only two turns, Sebastian was ahead, having just sunk two balls into separate pockets with one shot. Eva was looking frustrated, toying with her bottom lip as she watched Sebastian line up another shot. “Are you going to give me a hint about the costume in mind?” she asked.

Sebastian paused, not wanting to send the cue ball hurtling off the table for the second time that night. He honestly hadn’t figured that answer out yet. The only idea that had come to his mind was the ballgown her D&D character had worn in a session, when she had been tasked to distract a nobleman while Abigail’s sorceress cast a scrying spell on the man’s study. Eva had described it in detail, and Sebastian remembered the way her eyes had glittered as she did. When Abigail had teased her about it, Eva had only sniffed, commenting, “You’ve never wanted to wear a dress that made you feel like a princess?” Of course, Abigail had not. Sebastian remembered thinking Eva would look amazing in the dark blue dress she had created. Already, he was wondering what Emily would charge him to make a version of it.

Not that he was going to tell Eva that.“Who says I have anything in mind?” Sebastian asked in a low voice. Sebastian looked up at her with a cocky smile. 

Eva had clearly not missed the suggestive tone in his voice. And he didn’t miss the blush that flooded her cheeks. She pulled her eyes away, suddenly finding the potted plant in the far corner interesting. “Your face says you have an idea,” she answered a little breathlessly. Sebastian was too distracted by her biting her bottom lip and missed his shot. Eva moved to take her turn, only knocking one of her balls off the table. Sebastian smiled to himself. At least he wasn’t the only one getting thrown off his game by their banter. Eva bent to line up her next shot and missed, only brushing against her target. “Damn it all,” she cursed as she straightened. When she caught Sebastian chuckling, she gave him a playful shove. “Why does that always entertain you, my cursing?”

“Because cursing sounds so out of place with your accent,” he answered. “You sound so posh and fancy all the time, and then to hear that?” Sebastian shook his head and laughed. “It’s unexpected. And kinda cute.”

Eva rolled her eyes and braced herself in the back corner with her arms crossed. “You wouldn’t think that if you had heard me when I’m actually angry,” she muttered. Then, she turned towards the saloon’s main room. Sebastian looked up to see Shane heading to his usual spot in the booth closest to the fireplace. Eva leaned down beside Sebastian as he tried to plot out his next shot. Eva had left the cue ball in the worst spot for him. Nearly any shot he took would knock at least one of her balls into a pocket as well. Eva whispered, “Shane’s here.”

“I saw him,” Sebastian said. “But we’re finishing this game first. I’ve got this one locked in.”

“So confident in your own skills, I see” Eva purred in his ear. 

Sebastian glanced sideways at her. “If you’re trying to distract me, you’ll have to do better than that.” Without looking, he hopped the cue ball over all of hers and sank one of his own into the far corner pocket. He stood up with a satisfied smile on his face. “I hope you don’t mind being cold,” he joked. “Spirit’s Eve is always a little chilly here.” Not that she would be cold, in reality. Sebastian had decided he would get Emily to make that dress for Eva. But if he had to make her think he was going to pick some slutty costume in order to win the game, he would. 

Eva just met his smile with one of her own. “Are you offering to keep me warm all night, Sebastian?” she asked in a voice that dripped with seduction, causing Sam to gag on his soda over on the couch. 

Sam sniffled and dragged the back of his sleeve across his face. “I snorted some up my nose. Oh, it burns,” he whined. He flapped a hand in front of his nose. “You guys are the reason I have sinus issues.” Abigail passed him the basket of zucchini fritters and he stopped whining to shove two into his mouth at once.

Their game continued for a few minutes longer, their taunts to each other becoming more and more suggestive. This time, Sebastian was sure Eva was purposely bending over in front of him. Any doubts he had were dispelled when she wiggled her hips before taking her next shot. “Not going to save you,” he said softly to her as he stepped around her for his turn.

“Worth a try,” Eva answered with a shrug. Then, when he completely missed, her smile grew wicked. “You were saying, Sebastian?” she teased, her accent tugging on the syllables of his name. 

Sebastian swallowed hard as he watched her walk around the table and tugged on the neck of his hoodie. All he could think about was just how ruthless she was being tonight, over his hoodie. Sebastian suddenly wondered if she would sleep in it if she won. He took a deep breath, shaking the thought from his mind. “Just take your turn,” he said.

Eva gave Sebastian a wink from across the table, right before she dropped her final two balls into two different pockets. It took a second for the game’s end to register with both of them. Then, Eva screamed in triumphant, loud enough to cut through the low roar of the crowded saloon and the jukebox’s music. Sebastian saw heads turn towards the rec room, Demetrius’ included. Eva spun around on her heels once, then yelled, “Take it off, Sebastian!”

Sebastian leaned his pool cue against the table’s edge, pulled his hoodie over his head, and tossed it at her. She caught it with a wide grin, immediately pulling it on. The bottom hem gathered on top of her hips. Sebastian forced himself to look away from her as she struck a modelling pose as Abigail cheered. He crossed his now bare arms, noticing that Eva’s eyes fell to the tattoos that were now visible from beneath his short sleeves. “If you get anything on it, I’ll kill you,” Sebastian threatened. He tilted his head towards where Shane was sitting. 

Eva caught his motion and answered with a subtle nod. “I’m going to go order another pizza for us,” she announced, lifting her purse from the floor by the couch. “Anyone want anything else?” she asked.

Abigail called after her from the couch. “Grab more zucchini fritters! Sam ate them all.”

“You handed them to me!”

Eva waved over her shoulder to let Abigail know she’d heard. Sebastian watched Eva walk towards the bar as he racked the balls and left them in the center of the table for the next game. He was so focused on her, he didn’t notice Sam come to stand beside him and set his drink can on the table edge. Sebastian jumped when Sam spoke. “So?” his friend asked in a low voice.

“So what?” Sebastian asked, digging a ball out of a pocket’s netting. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “So, when are you going to ask her out?” When Sebastian shot him a flat stare, Sam said, “Don’t think I didn’t see you watch her walk away. Or, more like watch her butt walk away. If I’ve noticed, dude, you know it’s a whole thing.”

Sebastian sighed and stood to face his friend. “Why should I ask her out?”

“Because you obviously like her, duh,” Sam shot back in a loud whisper. He glanced over his shoulder at Abigail, who was absorbed in her phone once more. Then, he looked back at Sebastian. “Why wouldn’t you ask her out?”

“Because I’m leaving this place the first chance I get, Sam,” Sebastian shot back. “You know that.”

Sam held his hands up in exasperation. “You know, you keep saying that, but you’re still here. And Eva’s here, and you like her. Seems simple to me.”

Sebastian huffed, moving to stuff his hands into his hoodie pocket before realizing Eva was currently wearing it. He scowled. “Fine,” Sebastian said. “You’re right.” Sam’s face lit up as he spoke. Sebastian held up a finger to curb his friend’s enthusiasm. “I’ll ask Eva out, after you talk to Sophia, since you think it’s so easy,” he continued, jerking a hand toward where the pink-haired vineyard owner sat at the bar, chatting with Emily. 

Sam gaped at him for a moment, then glanced at Sophia. He gulped. “You mean it?” Sam asked in a nervous voice. “You’ll tell Eva you like her if I just talk to Sophia?”

“Yeah, I mean it,” Sebastian said, shaking his head with a short laugh. “Because you’re not going to actually do it.” He patted Sam’s shoulder and stepped around him. Eva was carrying a pizza towards Shane’s booth. “Smoke break,” he said. “Be right back.” Sebastian picked his way through the saloon’s crowded main room toward where Shane sat. 

Eva had just sat down in the booth across from Shane when Sebastian reached them, sliding into the seat beside her. Shane looked up from his beer and eyed them through narrowed eyes. “What do you want?” he growled.

Eva nudged the pizza closer to him, then pulled a jar of pickled hot peppers from her purse and slid them over to Shane. “We were hoping you could help us with a little problem,” she said. Sebastian thought her crisp accent made her sound like some chic mobster and he had to repress a smile. 

Shane looked between the pizza and the jar of pickles, then between Eva and Sebastian. Sebastian leaned back in the booth, stretching his legs out alongside the table and crossing his arms. Shane studied the two of them for a minute longer, then broke the seal on the jar and fished a pepper out. He dropped it onto a slice of pizza and then took a bite, folding the slice like a taco around the pepper. He chewed slowly, then coughed and took a long drink of his beer. “That’s got a kick to it,” he muttered. Sebastian thought it was in appreciation, but he couldn’t be sure. Shane looked at them over his food. “Now, what’s your problem?”

“Your boss’s tablet,” Eva said. “How would I get my hands on it?”

“Hypothetically,” Sebastian added. 

Shane nodded and took another bite. “Of course,” he said around a mouthful of pepper and pizza. He studied Eva while he chewed, then asked, “You were a big corporate somebody, weren’t you? Morris got you fired, right?”

“That’s correct,” Eva replied simply.

Shane sucked on his teeth for another moment, then shrugged. “You could get it from his office after work hours.”

“I thought he took it home with him?” Eva asked.

Foam blew off the top of Shane’s beer when he snorted into it. “What, Morris, taking work home with him? Fat chance of that. He hardly works when he’s at work. He only bought it for the tax write-off.” Shane guzzled half of the beer before he spoke again. “No, he leaves that tablet charging on his desk most days.”

Eva looked to Sebastian, her eyes glittering with excitement. Sebastian asked Shane, “How would we get in the Joja Mart after hours?”

“Hypothetically, right?” Shane asked. When Sebastian nodded, he picked up another slice of pizza and plopped another pepper on top. “I guess you could walk in through the back door. I sometimes prop it open when I do inventory in the back. Wednesday night I have to work late doing monthly inventory, so I’ll be there for a few hours after the store closes.”

“Security cameras?” Sebastian pressed. 

Shane smacked his lips as he finished his second slice and blew out a long sigh. “Did you grow these peppers yourself?” he asked Eva, who just nodded. “They’re really good.” He burped, then looked back at Sebastian. “You wouldn’t have to worry about the cameras. Morris is too cheap to upgrade the system. They still record to tape, but it hasn’t been changed in ages, so nothing is actually recording.” Shane picked up his beer, but paused before he took a drink. “Is that all you needed? If so, can you leave me alone?”

Eva pushed Sebastian out of the booth, gathering her purse with the other hand. “That’s everything, Shane. Thank you. Enjoy your dinner.”

“I’ll enjoy anything if it’s free,” he muttered as Sebastian and Eva walked back toward the rec room.

Sebastian glanced around the saloon, making sure no one was paying attention to them. Everyone seemed to be absorbed in their Friday night leisure and had not taken notice of their short conversation with Shane. He leaned down to whisper into Eva’s ear. “I’ll ask Abby to be our look out.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Eva muttered back, her face glowing with excitement. 

Sebastian shook his head, smiling. “You’re enjoying this way too much, you know?”

Eva elbowed him in the side. “You’re grinning too, I’ll have you know,” she returned. They stepped down into the rec room, parting to let Emily back through from bringing a second pizza and an order of zucchini fritters. “Another game?” Eva asked him, gesturing to the pool table. 

“Always,” Sebastian answered, moving to get a pool cue. When he turned, Sam walked up to him, his phone in hand. Sebastian saw Sophia’s name across the top of a contact profile “You got her number?” Sebastian asked, stunned. 

Abigail and Eva both asked, “Who’s number?” at the same time. Both men ignored them. Sam just leaned in close and whispered, “Your move, Sebastian.” Then, he grabbed a slice of pizza and asked Abigail if she wanted to play Journey of the Prairie King with him. Abigail bounced up, already digging in her purse for coins, and the two moved off to the arcade games across the room. 

“What was that about?” Eva asked Sebastian, watching Sam as he walked away.

Sebastian just answered, “Sam’s being Sam. Now, what are we betting for this game?”

When Eva looked back at him, her wicked grin was back on her face. “If I win, you have to bring me breakfast for a week.” She held up her hand to stop him before he accepted the wager. “And breakfast is not just black coffee. I’m talking biscuits or bagels and fruit and bacon and sausage. That kind of breakfast.”

“Don’t you wake up stupid early?” Sebastian asked.

Eva’s smile widened. “Yes, I do.”

Sebastian groaned, but accepted. As Eva walked around the table to get her own pool cue, he thought about his own wager. He looked at her, wearing his hoodie, and said, “If I win, you have to sleep in my hoodie all week.”

“No deal,” Eva replied, chalking the end of her cue. Sebastian looked at her, thinking he’d take their flirtation too far. He was about to apologize when she grinned up at him and said, “It wouldn’t be fair for me to agree to that. I’m already planning to.” 

The way she said it left Sebastian’s brain stuttering. The suggestion in her voice and on her face made him wonder if she was planning to wear his hoodie, and only his hoodie, when she went to bed, and in that moment he couldn’t figure out exactly how he felt about it. All he could think about was the mental image the idea conjured. 

He ended up bringing Eva breakfast each morning the following week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by the song "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix, featuring Nicki Minaj.
> 
> "Blood Song" is one of my favorite fantasy novels in the world. The author studied medieval history prior to writing it and the book was his debut novel. I consider it to be flawless. It's got a grounded realism to the world and the combat that a lot of fantasy novels are missing, without being as gritty as Cornwell's historical fiction (though if you enjoy Martin's Game of Thrones or enjoy medieval history, I highly recommend Bernard Cornwell).
> 
> If you want to see how the costume thing is resolved, check out the second work in the series, "To Be Starlight and Legend".


	6. Chapter 6

> People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do. If you need to injure someone, do it in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance.  
> ― Niccolo Machiavelli

Every nerve in Eva’s body was simultaneously on fire and freezing. She jumped when a flock of sparrows burst out of a nearby tree, pressing herself tighter against the cold ground. Beside her, Sebastian chuckled from where he lay on his stomach, chin resting on the backs of his folded hands. “You’re gonna have to chill if we’re gonna pull this off,” he said quietly to her. He didn’t take his eyes off the back of the Joja Mart, the warehouse door still closed. Sebastian was wearing his usual all black. Tonight, Eva matched him in black leggings and sweatshirt. She had considered wearing Sebastian’s hoodie tonight, but had not wanted to risk getting it dirty or ripped. Plus, his smell clinging to the fabric was a little distracting. Eva had found herself burying her nose into the soft fleece lining when she’d put it on in the evenings, completely lost in the scent. She could not afford such a distraction tonight when they snuck into the Joja Mart.

Across the hill from them was Abigail. She was sitting on an old stump, playing a flute. Her phone sat on the stump beside her within easy reach. If someone came to the store while Eva and Sebastian were inside, she would text Sebastian’s phone as a warning. Abigail was casually ignoring them and where they lay in the grass behind a screen of shrubs. 

“Here we go,” Sebastian whispered. Eva looked back down at the Joja Mart to see Morris rounding the corner of the building. He unlocked his car and climbed in, setting his briefcase in the passenger seat. After a few minutes of fiddling with the radio, Morris put the car into gear and pulled out of the small parking lot. Sebastian pushed himself to his feet and slung his backpack onto his back, and Eva stood to follow him. “And you said Morris lives near the city?” he asked her as they picked their way down the hillside through the forest’s edge. 

“Yeah, in some suburb,” Eva answered, trying to follow Sebastian’s footsteps in the evening’s gloom. Even with him only a couple of steps ahead of her, Eva could barely see him in the shadows of the trees. Suddenly, she wondered if she should have been the lookout and let Sebastian handle this alone. “It’s quite the commute.”

“Then it’s not easy for him to come back,” Sebastian said from somewhere in front of her. “There’s not a lot of places to turn around on the highway.”

They neared the back corner of the store just as Shane pushed the door open and wedged a doorstop underneath it. The man jumped when Sebastian stepped out of the treeline, grabbing at his chest. “Man, you’re too good at that,” he mumbled, then walked back into the storeroom. 

Eva followed close behind Sebastian as they entered the Joja Mart. Shane had his back to them, a barcode scanner bouncing on its coiled cord plugged into an inventory tablet in a Joja blue case. Sebastian pushed through the swinging doors and led Eva into the storefront. Eva’s footsteps sounded loud on the blue-white tile under her feet. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder at her with raised eyebrows, his own steps nearly silent. Eva mouthed an apology and tried to lighten her steps. They skirted through the freezer section and around the waist-high coolers toward Morris’ office, located behind the membership services desk near the front. Sebastian briefly paused at the door beside Morris’ office. Eva saw the plaque beside it read “Server Room.” Then, Sebastian was moving again, turning the office’s door knob. Thankfully, it was unlocked. 

Morris’ office looked much like the rest of the Joja Mart did - sterile and cold with blue-white tile and walls. A metal desk took up most of the limited floor space. A plastic folding table was pushed up against one wall, boxes of Joja promotional products stacked on it. Metal filing cabinets had been shoved into one corner along the back wall. Eva closed the door behind her as Sebastian went to the desk. He held up a cord. “Morris didn’t leave the tablet here,” he whispered.

“What?” Eva whispered back, moving to his side. “You’re sure that’s the charger for it?”

Sebastian read the label on its power box, then nodded. Eva spat out a curse. Sebastian patted her on the shoulder as he moved around her and dropped his backpack to the floor before sitting in Morris’ office chair. “We could still find what you’re looking for,” he said, disappearing under the desk. Eva heard the computer tower whir to life. Sebastian sat back up and pulled the keyboard drawer out. “If Morris linked that tablet to his work accounts, then whatever he’s got on the community center should be on this computer. Especially with that server room next door.”

“Bad idea,” Eva hissed. “That computer is part of Joja Corp’s network. Their security is one of the best in the republic. The moment you touch it without a password and login, they’ll have it locked down in half an hour, at most. And they’ll know, and probably call Morris.”

Sebastian looked around the monitor at her. “You say that like you don’t believe I’m a badass hacker. I’m hurt, Eva.” He gently slapped the side of the boxy monitor. “This thing is ancient. I bet Morris hasn’t updated the software since he pulled it out of the box. Most newer network systems rely on the operating system’s updates to function properly. Have a little faith in me.”

“Are you badass enough to get in and out in twenty minutes?” Eva asked, rounding the desk as he halted the computer’s bootup sequence and started typing commands on the black screen. Eva shook her head, not understanding anything of what he was doing. Whenever she saw a similar screen on any of her computers, she had always stopped touching the keyboard and called tech support. 

Sebastian flashed his cocky rebel smile at her and pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. Pulling up a timer, he asked, “Wanna find out?”

Eva scoffed, but otherwise held her tongue. She turned to the filing cabinets and pulled one open. The drawer rumbled out on its tracks, revealing a rat’s nest of unorganized papers. “Ugh, Morris,” Eva whispered to herself. “Learn how to file or hire a secretary.” She pushed the drawer closed, having to reopen it to stuff the corners of a few pages back down. Eva moved to the table, digging through Joja Cola t-shirts and Joja Corp flash drives for anything of note. When that turned up nothing, she crouched beside the desk and began opening drawers. Morris’ desk was just as disorderly as his filing cabinets. It would have taken hours to search through the mess. 

“Any luck yet?” she asked as she stood, hands on hips.

“Takes time, Eva,” Sebastian answered. The computer beeped a warning at him and his fingers stumbled on the keys. “Uh, that… that wasn’t supposed to happen…” he mumbled, then began typing in a new command. 

“I thought you were a badass hacker?” Eva asked in a mocking tone. 

“Not helping,” Sebastian snapped at her. “Apparently, Morris does update his computer system. Want to help me? Find me his login info. He probably has it written down on something. Most people do.”

Eva rolled her eyes in the dark office, but did as Sebastian suggested. She went back to rummaging through the desk drawers, using the flashlight feature on her phone to help her see. Even after looking at what felt like a hundred sticky notes with random scribbles and notes on them, Eva still hadn’t found the information Sebastian needed. She glanced over at him, finding him still stuck on the same screen. The timer on his phone had already counted down to ten minutes remaining. Eva bit her lip and kept searching. She plunged her hand into one drawer, feeling around the bottom.

She pulled a Joja Corp flashdrive from the mess. Morris’ name was written across one side of it. “You brought your laptop?” Eva asked Sebastian. He nodded and nudged his backpack with a foot. Eva sat down on the floor and pulled the laptop from the backpack, plugging the flashdrive in. She opened the file system on it, finding only one very large file on it.

“Find something?” Sebastian asked. 

“It’s almost full,” Eva said, opening the file. She watched as the files began to load. “They’re all pictures.”

Sebastian huffed a quiet laugh. “If it’s porn, I don’t want to see it.”

The pictures finished loading. Eva’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my god,” she muttered, scrolling down. “What are these?”

“Okay, now I have to see,” Sebastian said, rolling the office chair towards her and leaning over the arm. 

The flashdrive was full of thousands and thousands of pictures, all of dogs in top hats, bow ties, and tuxedo coats. Eva gaped at the screen, unable to stop herself from scrolling. “Why does Morris have all of these?”

Sebastian just blinked, then rolled the chair away. “You know, I think I would have been less disturbed had it been porn. That’s just weird.” They both jumped when his phone’s timer went off. “Okay, time’s up,” he said, reaching under the desk to turn the computer back off. Eva sighed, pulling the flashdrive from Sebastian’s computer and returning it to the desk drawer where she’d found it. Sebastian took his laptop from her and began stuffing it back into his backpack. “Sorry, Eva,” he mumbled to her.

“It’s okay,” Eva answered, sinking back to the floor beside the desk. “It was a long shot, anyway.” Her eyes dropped to the trash can in front of her. There was a large stack of papers that had been dropped into it. Eva reached into the bin and pulled them out, holding her phone’s light over them. Her face broke into a smile. “Sebastian, Morris prints off his emails,” she breathed.

“No way,” Sebastian said, dropping to the floor beside her. He took part of the stack from her and flipped through them. “Some of these are about the community center.” They both jumped again when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Sebastian fished it out and looked at the screen. “We gotta go,” he said, shoving the emails into his backpack. “Abby said Morris is pulling back in.”

“What?” Eva whispered, stuffing her part of the stack into Sebastian’s backpack. “That was quick. They never responded that quickly at headquarters.”

“Less talk, more hustle,” Sebastian snapped at her. He threw his backpack over his shoulders and hauled her to her feet. They both bolted for the office door and out into the store. 

The front door chimed as it opened. Sebastian and Eva dove behind a freestanding freezer as Morris walked in. “Shane,” Morris bellowed, storming down the central aisle just on the other side from them. “Shane, are you still here?”

“Yeah, boss,” came Shane’s grumbled reply as he stepped out of the storeroom.

Sebastian jerked Eva’s sweatshirt hood over her head. When she looked at him, he mouthed something about her hair and she realized her red hair would be highly visible, even in the dark. Sebastian slid from one freezer to the other, glancing around the corner to find Morris again before he waved at Eva to do the same. Eva dragged herself on her stomach across the open space, Sebastian grabbing her arms to pull her behind the freezer with him. 

“Headquarters said there was a network breach,” Morris told Shane. “Have you seen anyone else here since I left?”

“It’s just me, Morris,” Shane answered. “They probably forgot I do inventory at this time of night and flagged it. What else would it be?”

“Come with me, Shane,” Morris said. Sebastian and Eva could hear him walking back towards the front of the store. “I want us to make a full sweep of the store, starting with my office.” 

Sebastian scrambled around the freezer’s corner, dragging Eva after him, as Morris rounded the other end of the freezer. Shane walked past them, hardly even looking at them as he did. He just stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and followed Morris. As soon as they heard Morris’ office door open, Sebastian and Eva raced for the storeroom doors, slipping through and running out the still open back door. 

Eva could honestly say she was fast, but she couldn’t keep up with Sebastian’s long legs. She ran as quickly as she could, following Sebastian to the small stone footbridge that spanned the river north of the Joja Mart. Eva glanced down at her feet when the ground beneath her changed from pavement to uneven dirt, stumbling once. When she looked up, Sebastian was gone. Eva skidded to a stop, panting and spinning in place. A squeal of metal hinges pierced the air behind her and Eva bolted for the bridge once more. 

A figure lunged at her from the bridge’s shadowed deck, dragging her down behind the stone parapets. A hand clamped over her mouth to stifle her yelp, and another cradled the back of her head as she fell. “It’s me,” she heard Sebastian hiss at her. The bridge’s sides were not tall at all, and Sebastian flattened himself on top of her to avoid being spotted as Morris strode out the back door. 

“I told you,” they heard Shane’s voice from the back of the store. “It’s just me here, Morris. Can I get back to doing inventory, now? I promised the kid I’d be home for bedtime tonight.”

They could not hear Morris’ reply. The sound of the store’s back door slamming shut rang through the air before the autumn quiet of the night settled back over them. Eva stared up into Sebastian’s face as they waited, barely daring to breathe. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she could feel Sebastian’s doing the same under her hands planted on his chest. After several long minutes, Sebastian slowly moved his hand from her mouth. “Let’s give it another couple of minutes,” he whispered. “Just to be safe.” Eva nodded. 

The sound of a shoe scuffing on the stone bridge made them both jump. Abigail’s purple hair came into view over Sebastian’s shoulder as she walked onto the bridge, her half-eaten bag of sour gummy worms in hand. “He’s been inside for a bit,” she said. “You guys can get up now. Or don’t. Don’t let me tell you how to live your life or anything.”

Sebastian’s head dropped to the bridge’s deck beside Eva’s ear. Eva heard him release the breath he’d been holding. “You’re the best, Abby,” he said, loud enough for the woman to hear him. 

“We truly owe you,” Eva added.

Abigail tossed a piece of candy into her mouth, shaking her head. “Oh no, we’re even. Watching you two run out of there like bats out of hell was the best entertainment I’ve had in awhile. I’m just glad I brought snacks,” she said, shaking her bag. “Night, you two.” She waved at them as she disappeared into the evening gloom. 

Sebastian stood up, then reached down to help Eva to her feet. They crossed the bridge together in silence. Sebastian pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from some inside pocket of his jacket. Eva glanced back over her shoulder, not believing they had actually gotten away. She jumped slightly when Sebastian spoke. “Mom’s making spaghetti tonight,” he said, lighting a cigarette. “We can eat dinner while we look at what you found, if you want.”

“That would be nice,” Eva said, still watching the path behind them. She thought Sebastian was acting far too calm considering just how close they’d come to being caught.

“And stop acting like you just stole something.”

Eva looked at him and found him grinning at her. She burst out laughing, so hard she had to stop walking to double over and clutch at her sides. When she could speak again, she said, “That was crazy.”

“It was your idea,” Sebastian answered, chuckling. “I’m beginning to think you’re crazy. First you move here, and then you rob Joja?” 

Eva swatted his arm. “Not so loud!”

They were both grinning like mad when they reached the Kael-Lautrec home. Sebastian led the way through Robin’s shop, into the house, and to the kitchen. The rest of his family was already seated around the dinner table. Demetrius’s head snapped up when Sebastian walked in and headed towards the cabinets to pull down a plate. 

Robin started serving spaghetti and salad onto the empty plate at the last seat. “I’ve already got you a plate here, Sebby.”

“Where have you been?” Demetrius asked at the same moment. The question earned him a glare from Robin.

Eva stepped into the doorway and leaned against the frame. “My apologies,” she said, causing Robin, Demetrius, and Maru to notice her for the first time. “I needed to borrow Sebastian’s technical skills this evening.”

Robin beamed at her. “Oh, hi, Eva. I didn’t see you there.”

Demetrius was studying Eva. She realized his gaze was locked on the dust and dirt on the knees of her leggings. His expression had turned from annoyed to disappointed when he looked back up at her face. “What’s going on?” he asked, looking between her and Sebastian. Sebastian ignored him, grabbing buttered rolls from the basket in the center of the table and putting them on both his and Eva’s plates. Eva grinned even wider at him, unable to help it. 

“I don’t want to know,” Maru said, also looking between Eva and her brother. “Sebastian’s actually smiling and Eva’s got the most evil grin I think I’ve ever seen on her face.”

Sebastian kissed Robin on the cheek and scooped up both plates. “We’ll eat in my room, since we’re short a chair. Thanks, Mom.” He pressed Eva’s plate into her hands as he walked past her. 

“This looks wonderful, Robin,” Eva commented as she turned to follow Sebastian back down the hall. “Thanks!”

She could barely stifle the laugh that bubbled up when she heard Demetrius call after them, “Now, hold on just a minute! I still want an explanation!”

“Leave them alone, Demi! He’s out of his room for once and having fun!”

Eva closed the door to Sebastian’s room behind her. Sebastian stood in front of his couch, setting his dinner plate on the seat to take off his backpack. He tossed his jacket over the back of the couch. He reached over his monitor array and hit a button on the keyboard. Music filled the room. Then, he sank down and pulled his food into his lap. Eva kicked a beanbag closer and sat down as well. 

Sebastian slid his backpack towards her. “Let’s see what we got,” he said.

Eva pulled out the stack of emails and handed him half. They ate dinner in relative silence, each reading through Morris’ emails. After a while, Eva had several stacks of papers in front of her as she started organizing the documents she had. Her empty plate sat on the floor beside her. Sebastian had stretched out across the couch, his plate tucked under the piece of furniture. He had one arm resting along the arm he was leaning against. One of his feet bounced in time with the music playing. Eva glanced up and smiled to herself when she found him quietly mouthing the words of the current song. 

_Girl you're all the rage, so can we turn the page  
Tell me little something little more than just your name  
I don't bite, but I heard you might  
So let me feed your appetite.  
Where do we go from here,  
Whisper what you want in my ear,  
My little puppeteer._

He looked over and caught her watching him. “What?” he asked, the small smile that had been on his face slipping. 

“Nothing,” Eva answered, not wanting to tell him what she had been thinking, that she loved watching him sing and enjoy music. She dropped her eyes and returned to reading through Morris’ emails. Eva scrubbed her eyes and blinked a couple of times. The emails were mostly about the daily operations of the Joja Mart. The rest so far had been inane prattling to higher ups at headquarters. Eva put another page into the growing stack of emails that had nothing to do with what she was looking for. 

The next page had what looked like part of a blueprint. Eva’s eyes flickered over the page, reading the notations. Then, she shuffled through the rest of her stack of unread pages, finding the other pieces. “I have the plans for a warehouse, I think,” Eva said, breaking the silence between them. She pieced the pages together on the floor in front of her. “But it doesn’t have any lot information. I don’t know where this would be built.”

“The community center,” Sebastian said, leaning over to hand her the email he had been reading. “That’s what Joja wants with it.”

“For a warehouse?” Eva asked. “That doesn’t make any sense. Unless it’s from when Morris was planning the bottling plant at Mistwood. Maybe this is an old plan.”

“I don’t think so,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. He rattled the paper he was holding. Eva finally took it, scanning over it. “That date is recent, like only a month ago.”

Eva gaped at the email in her hand. Then she looked back at the blueprint, studying the specifications again. “I don’t understand this warehouse.”

“What’s to understand?” Sebastian asked, shrugging. “It’s a warehouse.”

Eva shook her head, one finger in the air as she thought. “Nothing Joja Corp produces would need this level of security. And the walls are thicker. This blueprint calls for them to be made of reinforced concrete.”

Sebastian looked up from the page he was looking over. “Okay, now that is weird. Joja makes bad sodas and crappy snack food. Why do they need reinforced walls on a warehouse?”

Eva did not have an answer for him, so they went back to reading through Morris’ emails. A few minutes later, Sebastian suddenly said, “Hey, Eva, come here. Maybe you can make this make sense.” Eva stood, taking a moment to rub the calf of one leg that had fallen asleep from sitting in one position for so long. “This email chain between Morris and that guy Mac is talking about artifacts and that drilling operation north of town.” Eva perched on the edge of the couch beside him and leaned closer to read the page he was holding. She planted a hand on his shoulder, reading through the messages Morris and Mac had sent back and forth. Sebastian shook his head, a furrow forming between his eyebrows. “I don’t understand half of what they’re talking about. What’s AOA?”

“Association of Antiquities,” Eva stated. “Why does Joja care about them?”

Sebastian’s head jerked up, eyes locking on his bedroom door. He caught the edge of his jacket with one foot and tossed it into the floor to cover the neat stacks Eva had been creating. He stuffed the pages he was holding between his side and the couch cushions just as the door opened. Demetrius walked in, holding two bowls of some kind of dessert in his hands. Eva and Sebastian blinked at him in surprise. Demetrius looked over them, his look of disapproval returning as he noted they were sitting hip to hip, heads close together, and Eva’s hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. For a moment, the only sound was the music playing in the background.

_Fight so dirty, but your love's so sweet  
Talk so pretty, but your heart got teeth  
Late night devil, put your hands on me_

Sebastian snapped, “Does anyone in this family knock?”

“Your mother sent me with dessert,” Demetrius said, not moving further into the room.

“You could still knock,” Sebastian insisted. 

Eva jumped up and bounded over to him to take the bowls, filled with a type of layered dessert topped with orange gelatin. “Is that cream cheese in the middle?” Eva asked innocently, heading back to the couch. “Thank Robin for me, please.”

“It is,” Demetrius answered, watching through narrowed eyes as Eva sank back down beside Sebastian, who took one bowl from her. Sebastian moved the arm resting on the couch arm around Eva’s side, pulling her a little closer to his side. Eva could feel her innocent smile take on a wicked twist as Demetrius glared at them. 

Demetrius looked like he was about to say something when Robin’s voice rang down the stairs. “Demi, are you bothering them? Leave them alone, for Yoba’s sake!” The man winced. 

“Enjoy dessert,” he mumbled, turning to grab the door knob as he walked out. 

Both Eva and Sebastian called after him, “We will.”

Eva began laughing. “I’m sorry, Sebastian,” she said, giving him an apologetic look. “I have a feeling I just upset your stepfather.”

Sebastian shrugged, setting his dessert to the side, untouched. “The look on his face was worth whatever lecture I get after this,” he said, chuckling. “I can already hear him. He’ll go on about how I’m a terrible influence and how I’m corrupting the innocence of a good girl like you.”

“Good girl?” Eva asked, then snorted. “Demetrius obviously doesn’t know me if he thinks I’m a good girl.”

The look Sebastian turned on her was intense, almost daring her to back up her words with proof. Eva took a bite of the dessert in an attempt to cover her sudden nervousness. She waved her spoon at him, saying, “Back to that email.”

He pulled the papers back out and they returned to reading through them. “So, am I reading this right?” Sebastian asked. “It sounds like they’re drilling to dig up old artifacts.”

“That’s how I’m reading it,” Eva answered. “Which would explain the caution about the AOA. Joja would never get the licensing needed to handle artifacts, especially not elven and dwarven, like they’re talking about. Those can be dangerous.” She gasped, looking at Sebastian with wide eyes. “That’s what the warehouse is for. To store the artifacts they find.”

“And that requires reinforced concrete walls, because…” Sebastian said, trailing off into a question. 

Eva stood up and began pacing down the middle of the room. “The dwarves and elves had magic, right? And we still don’t understand that magic. We can’t even decipher their languages yet, let alone control a magical artifact. That’s why the Association of Antiquities regulates who handles artifacts so strictly.” She turned and continued pacing in the opposite direction. “Store the wrong artifacts in the same place, and you could have a deadly chain reaction.” Eva stopped pacing to face Sebastian. “But why is Joja dealing with artifacts in the first place?”

Sebastian began rifling through the papers in his lap. “There was another email Mac sent to Morris that didn’t make sense out of context.” He pulled one from in the middle of all the   
others. “Here it is. Mac’s talking about his connection with Greyford.”

“The defense contractor?” Eva asked. “The ones that got into trouble with the government a couple years back?”

“That’s the one,” Sebastian answered. “Apparently, Mac went to work for them after you fired him. He’s pulling strings to get Greyford to provide security for Joja’s drilling operation.” He scanned the email he was holding, then said, “I think Joja’s trying to break into defense contracting. Morris is talking about selling the artifacts they find. To groups like Greyford.”

Eva’s mouth hung open. “That’s illegal,” she breathed. “Not to mention highly dangerous. We can’t control most of the artifacts we find. We have to rely on Ferngill’s wizards to neutralize them, or contain them, before we can even study them.” She pressed her hands against her mouth. “If Joja builds that warehouse and an artifact goes off, all of Pelican Town could be levelled.”

Sebastian gaped at her. “Are you serious?” he asked. He took in the wide-eyed expression on her face, then said, “Fuck, Eva, you’re serious.” He ran a hand through his hair, staring off into the distance. “That’s some serious shit,” he muttered, leaning his head back against the couch arm.

They remained silent for several minutes, both of them processing the information they had uncovered. Eva was the one who spoke first. “We have to stop them,” she stated. “I’ve got connections with the AOA. I might need more proof other than these emails, though.” Already her mind was racing, planning. She started pacing again, tapping her lips with one finger. 

“That’s a bad idea, Eva,” Sebastian said. Eva turned to him. He had sat up, his feet now planted on the floor, with his arms braced on his knees and his hands clasped together. His voice was soft when he spoke, as if all his bad boy confidence was suddenly gone. “I mean, I’m not saying you’re not strong or whatever,” he said, not looking at her. His eyes were on his hands. “I know your father is some kind of officer.”

“How do you know that?” Eva asked quietly. She had kept that to herself for years, knowing it was bad enough that she had a Gotoran accent. If people knew her father was a high-ranking imperial officer, Eva would have been even more of a target for prejudice or violence. 

“His jacket was hanging on the back of his chair when he video called you,” Sebastian answered, still not looking up at her. “I saw his medals and stripes.” He took a deep breath, licking his lips before continuing. “I’m guessing he taught you how to take care of yourself. That that’s where your nerves of steel and confidence come from. But, this just got a lot bigger than your beef with Morris. I mean, Eva, there’s mercs involved, and you’re already planning on spying on them to rat them out to the government.” He shook his head, running a hand through his hair again. “If one of them caught you… If Mac caught you…”

Eva scoffed. “Mac is harmless. He’s a pig, but he’s more annoying than anything.”

“That’s not the vibe I got from him,” Sebastian said quietly. He finally looked up at her. “A harmless man wouldn’t have looked at you like he did.”

The concern on his face rattled Eva’s certainty and confidence. “You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?” she asked softly. 

Sebastian held her gaze for a moment longer, then nodded. “Just… Promise me, if you end up alone with Mac, don’t… Promise me you’ll run. Just run. Please.”

“Yeah, okay,” Eva said. She hugged herself, suppressing a shudder as she thought back to her interaction with Mac the week before in the light Sebastian had just cast on it. It chilled her to think about it, now. She tamped the idea down to deal with later. “I’ll be careful,” she promised. Sebastian nodded, looking relieved. “Alerting the AOA will take time,” Eva said, returning back to the issue at hand. “Potentially a lot of it. Bureaucracy, you know? But if we can block Joja from building that warehouse, it would significantly slow down the operation, keep it on a much smaller scale. We just have to find out why they haven’t already acquired the property and make sure that remains an obstacle.”

“Lewis has been trying to sell the community center for years,” Sebastian said. “It’s in bad shape, and the town doesn’t have the money to repair it. I don’t know what we can do about that, unless you want to buy it, too.” 

Eva shook her head as she sank back into her beanbag chair. “I don’t have the money for that, unfortunately.” They both sat in silence once more, each trying to think of a solution. Sebastian started looking through the emails again. Eva watched the facial expressions he made as he read for several minutes, then leaned back and sprawled out. Aches and pains were beginning to set in after a long day’s work on the farm and the burst of adrenaline from their flight to escape Morris. She blinked up at the ceiling, trying to keep her eyes open. Her eyes had just fluttered closed when Sebastian hummed in confusion. “What?” Eva asked, rising up on one elbow to look at him. 

Sebastian pointed at the body of the email in his hand. “Mac wrote to Morris about an ‘incident’ that happened during the initial survey and appraisal of the community center. Something about the workers reported seeing odd creatures inside. He’s trying to convince Morris to hire an independent wizard to come cleanse the building, before Joja buys it.”

“What?” Eva asked again, rising to perch beside him again. She read the email Sebastian was referencing, finding the same information he had. “Are there any local legends about the community center?” she asked. 

Sebastian shrugged. “Not that I know of. Abigail was always telling crazy stories when we were in high school, but I never really paid attention to her.” When he looked up at her, his wild smile was back. “We could always go check it out for ourselves,” he said. “You want to play _Ghost Hunt_ in real life?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced (in order as they appear) are: "Puppeteer" by MAX and "Teeth" by 5 Seconds of Summer.


	7. Chapter 7

> The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.  
> W.B. Yeats

The community center loomed over Sebastian and Eva in the dark of true night. Sebastian once again nearly disappeared in the gloom and Eva’s eyes already hurt from the strain of focusing on his back to keep from losing him. He cut a silent path through the undergrowth that had crept from the nearby woods to surround the old building. Eva turned a stumble over a tree root into a hopping step that sent her bumping into Sebastian. His quiet “Careful” barely reached her, even in the night’s quiet.

“I can’t see anything,” Eva whispered back, then wondered to herself why they were even whispering. All of Pelican Town was asleep, and they were far enough away from houses to disturb anyone. 

“Almost there,” came Sebastian’s reply. Eva could just make out the silhouette of his pale face when he looked over his shoulder at her. “There should be a window that’s missing the top boards in back. Abigail used to disappear around here in high school.” His quiet footsteps suddenly stopped. Eva ran into him and he just snorted out a short laugh. “You really can’t see, can you?” he asked. 

Eva grabbed onto his arm, afraid she’d lose his form if she wasn’t touching him. Even knowing he was directly in front of her did not help her see him in the shadow of the community center. “I’m from the city, remember,” she hissed. “It’s never really dark. It’s been a while since I needed night vision.”

Sebastian laughed again. “Remind me to never let you drive at night around here, then.”

“Probably for the best.”

She felt him shift underneath her hands. It felt like he was digging for something in his jacket pockets. Then, an orange flame sprang up in his other hand. Sebastian held his lighter up and Eva winced. “It’s dimmer than my phone,” he said in way of an apology as she blinked madly. He pointed up to the window in front of them. The last few boards were missing at the very top, leaving a narrow gap over the broken window. “That’s our way in.” Sebastian glanced at her. “I can’t hold the lighter and boost you up.”

“I don’t need you to,” Eva replied. She moved forward and began pulling herself up the existing boards. She looked over her shoulder down at him and flashed a satisfied grin. “You’ll catch me if I fall, right?”

“Sure thing.”

Eva climbed higher, pausing at the top to peer through the gap. She wrapped one arm around a board and pulled her backpack off one shoulder, then the other, and dropped it inside. Eva took a deep breath and stuck her head inside, her eyes clamped firmly closed as her face parted years’ worth of cobwebs. With some wiggling and squirming, she was through the narrow space and able to drop down onto the floor inside. Eva crouched to retrieve her backpack and move out of the way, hearing Sebastian climbing up at her back. Her hands found only rough wooden floors and layers of dust and grime. She scrambled out of the way as Sebastian dropped down beside her. His lighter flicked back to life, the orange glow illuminating her, still on hands and knees. He looked at her with a confused expression. “What are you doing?” 

“My backpack’s gone,” Eva said. “I dropped it right where you’re standing.”

They both looked down at the floor. There was a clear swatch of floor where the dirt had been swept away, as if something had been dragged across the floorboards. The path ended underneath Sebastian’s feet, in the exact spot where her backpack had landed. Eva shuddered, quickly rising to step closer to Sebsatian. He held his lighter higher. His usual confidence was absent from his voice when he breathed, “Okay, that’s not freaky.”

“This is how horror movies start,” Eva whispered, once again grabbing onto his sleeve. “I don’t like horror movies.”

“But you love _Ghost Hunt_?”

Eva pressed her side against Sebastian’s arm. “Did I mention I always have nightmares for a few nights after watching it? Especially the final episodes.”

“Yeah, well, I’d be worried if you didn’t have nightmares after Urado,” Sebastian said, his eyes following the cleared trail around the corner, where it disappeared into a hallway. He stepped forward, Eva’s grip on his sleeve pulling her with him. 

“You’ll save me if we meet an evil vampiric demon who bathes in the blood of beautiful young women to gain immortality, right?” Eva asked as they followed the trail together. 

“Nope,” he answered. “I’ll leave your ass.”

Despite the chill of fear slowly working up her spine, Eva rolled her eyes. “You’re such a gentleman.” 

They rounded the corner and stared down at the floor. The clear trail stopped in the middle of the hallway, no backpack or anything else in sight. Eva felt a shiver ripple through Sebastian. “Let’s just agree this was a bad idea,” he muttered, sliding one foot backwards. “And I’ll buy you another backpack.”

“And a new phone?” Eva asked, trying to tease him. She only succeeded in sounding as creeped out as she felt. Her fingers gripped his jacket tighter. 

“Yeah, sure,” Sebastian said. When Eva glanced up at his face, she saw he looked at least half as scared as she felt. His eyes were darting around the hallway and the darkened doorways further ahead. The lighter’s flame in his hand trembled. 

A shape dropped from the ceiling, landing on the floor with a loud thud and a cloud of dust. They both screamed, rushing backwards and tripping on the broken floorboards. The lighter fell to the floor and the flame snuffed out, plunging them into complete darkness. Eva frantically reached into the sudden blackness for Sebastian. Her fingers brushed over the leather of his jacket for a moment before she felt his hand close over hers in a crushing grip. He tugged her closer, scrambling to put himself in front of Eva. Sebastian found his lighter and quickly clicked it back to life. The dust settled as they both sprawled on the floor, panting. In the center of the hallway lay Eva’s backpack, the flap open. Eva gaped at it over Sebastian’s shoulder. They both looked up into the rafters above it, finding nothing but more cobwebs. Sebastian’s chest was heaving as he slowly shook his head. “How the fuck did it end up there?”

Before Eva could mutter that she had no explanation, her backpack moved. They both yelled again. A little green creature rolled out of the main compartment, an antenna with a star on the end comically popping upright. Spindly arms dragged a plastic bag full of wild blackberries Eva had put in there as a snack earlier that day and forgotten about. The creature made frustrated chirping noises as it tried to pull the seal open, completely ignoring the two of them. 

“The fuck is that?” Sebastian breathed. His voice caused the creature to look up. It chirped loudly, waving the bag at them. Sebastian flinched. 

Eva blinked at the creature. “It’s kinda cute,” she said, slowly releasing her grip on Sebastian’s jacket. 

“Until it eats our faces off,” Sebastian said.

The creature bounced, chirping and waving the bag more insistently now. Eva crawled around Sebsatian towards it. “I think it just wants the blackberries.” Sebastian tried to grab her ankle, hissing a warning at her. The creature bounded closer to Eva, its star antenna bobbing madly. Eva gently took the plastic bag from it and pulled it open, setting it back onto the floor. The creature immediately tucked in, shovelling the berries into its mouth. 

“You’re insane,” Sebastian said from behind her. “Absolutely fucking insane.”

Eva just moved back to sit beside him to watch the creature eat. “It’s cute,” she insisted. “It was just hungry.” The creature finished the blackberries and bounced over to her side, chirping happily. Eva gave it a couple of pats on its head, earning a squeaky little purr. “It kinda looks like an apple,” she commented.

The creature chirped, the sounds coming out far too close to the word apple to be a coincidence. Sebastian stared at the creature, his mouth hanging open, for a long moment before he said, “Abigail named her sorcerer’s familiar Apple.”

The creature repeated the name, bouncing so high it landed on its side and rolled. 

The shock on Sebastian’s face shifted to a flat expression of anger. “She knew,” he spat, pushing himself to his feet. “She fucking knew.” The creature skittered away as Sebastian stormed back to the window, leaving Eva in the dark. She quickly grabbed her backpack and raced after him, climbing up and out of the window. When she dropped to the ground outside, Sebastian was already stomping away toward the back of the general store. Eva hurried after him, slinging her backpack over her shoulders as she ran to catch up. 

Sebastian stooped just outside the fence around Pierre’s vegetable garden, scooping up a handful of rocks. “What are you doing?” Eva asked as he hurled one at the closest window. He ignored her question, sending two more pebbles at the window panes. 

A light flicked on inside the room and the curtains parted. Abigail heaved the window open and leaned out. “What do you want, Sebastian?” she called in a loud whisper. “Do you know what time it is?”

“When were you going to tell me about the apple creatures in the community center?” he called back. “Before or after one of them gave us heart attacks?”

Abigail gasped. “You saw Apples? How-- Hold on.” She climbed out through her window onto the roof, then shimmied down the downspout at the corner. Eva’s mouth fell open as the woman trotted across her father’s garden towards them. Abigail was wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts and a bra.

Sebastian rubbed a hand over his face. “You couldn’t have put on a shirt first?”

“You wake me up in the middle of the night, this is what you get,” Abigail replied, jumping over the picket fence. She crossed her arms and looked at them both. “Why were you two in the community center in the middle of the night, anyway?”

“Don’t try to change the subject, Abby,” Sebastian snapped. “What is that monster?”

Abigail sighed deeply. “A Junimo. They’re some kind of ancient forest sprite-spirit-thing. I’ve been seeing them since I was a kid. I didn’t tell anyone, because I knew it would sound crazy.” She shrugged. “Last year was the first time I knew anyone else could see them, when the wizard found me in the Cindersap playing with Apples.”

“There’s more than one?” Sebastian exclaimed, loudly enough Abigail shushed him.

Eva blinked. “Wait, Pelican Town has a wizard?”

Sebastian shrugged off her surprise. “Yeah, but he hardly ever shows in town.” He faced Abigail. “But you’ve talked to him?”

“A few times, yeah,” Abigail replied. “He’s been nice, in a kinda creepy old wizard way. He gave me my flute, actually.”

“And you said I’m the insane one,” Eva said, nudging Sebastian. Even though wizards were licensed and heavily regulated in the Ferngill Republic, serving as keepers of a system of magical defense for the country, most people stayed clear of them. Wizards dealt with forces no one could quite understand or explain, and sometimes spells went very, very wrong. Eva had trained to work with potentially dangerous magical artifacts in university, and therefore had to closely work with a handful of wizards, but their aloof attitudes had always left Eva feeling on edge. To willingly converse and spend time with one was a desire incredibly foreign to her, despite coming from Gotoro, where wizards were more common and highly revered. 

Sebastian shook his head. “Taking gifts from a creepy old man who lives alone in the middle of nowhere is real smart, Abby.”

“Anyway, Razmodius said the Junimos are old beings, probably dating back to the time of the elves and dwarves,” Abigail said, changing the subject. “They have a connection to the land.” She looked at Eva, tilting her head in thought. “You studied Elven history, Eva. How come you don’t know about them?” 

“We still don’t know much about the Elven empire,” Eva stated. “And we can’t decipher the language. Even if we have references to these Junimo creatures, we have no way of knowing.”

“Well, the wizard knows about them. He taught me how to talk to them.”

Sebastian threw his hands up in the air and turned his back to her. “You’re insane,” he muttered, walking a few steps away and pulled out a cigarette. 

Abigail rubbed her bare arms as a wind blew over where they stood. “Look, the Junimos won’t hurt you, so can we talk about this when I’m not freezing to death?”

“Who’s fault is that?” Sebastian shot back.

Abigail rolled her eyes. “Yours,” she shot back as she hopped back over the fence. Then, she turned and said to Eva, “They like fruits and veggies. It makes them really happy. One time I gave them a bunch all at once, and they gave me some gifts. If you want to know more about them, maybe learn about some Elven history, talk to Razmodius.” Eva shook her head as she watched Abigail climb back up onto the roof and through her bedroom window. 

When she walked back to Sebastian’s side, he just shook his head. “What is going on tonight?” he asked. “First we find out Joja’s got hired guns on their payroll and is digging up dangerous artifacts to sell as weapons, and now there’s magical spirits in town.” He took a long drag of his cigarette. “This is why I don’t leave my basement.” Sebastian took in the expression on her face. “Don’t ask me to go see the wizard with you. If that’s where that look is going, I’m out.”

“I wasn’t going to ask,” Eva said. “But he might be able to help stop Joja Corp’s plans for the artifacts.”

Sebastian heaved a sigh out, filling the air between them with smoke. “You’re still determined to take them on, aren’t you? This is way bigger than I could have imagined, and you have hardly flinched.”

“The fact that it is bigger than just my getting back at Morris is why I want to take this on,” Eva answered. She reached up to pat his chest. “I’m not expecting you to do anymore, Sebastian. You’ve already had enough adventures with me tonight.”

“I didn’t say I was mad about it,” he muttered. Eva smiled up at him and stepped closer to hug him. For a moment, Sebastian stood still. Then, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him. Eva felt his chin come to rest on the crown of her head. 

She couldn’t say how long they stayed like that. It both felt like forever and not enough. Finally, Sebastian dropped his arm and gently pulled away from her. “I should get home,” he said softly. Eva thought she heard regret in his tone. “Demetrius will have a fit if he realizes I’m out so late.”

Eva let out a quiet laugh. “Yeah, I don’t want to earn you another lecture in one night.” She turned away to head to Mistwood Farm. 

“It was worth it,” Sebastian said as he turned towards his home. 

Eva grinned to herself the entire way back to the farmhouse.

***

The salty sea air had turned frigid after sunset, a thick fog rolling in off the ocean. Eva shivered and wrapped her scarf around her neck as she pulled the door of Elliott’s cabin closed behind her. The warm chatter between Elliott and Leah snapped into silence once the door shut. Eva tucked her copy of Coetzee’s _Waiting for the Barbarians_ into her bag. Their book club had been wonderful, as usual. Eva had eaten far too much of the cheese board they had all put together over a glass of wine. She stretched her arms over her head as she walked along the beach’s edge. Elliott’s cabin was always warm to the point of stifling, and Eva had almost dozed off in one of the leather armchairs, listening to Elliott play a new composition for her and Leah. 

As she began to walk home, a sudden orange flame at the end of the pier caught her attention. Eva spotted Sebastian sitting across the dock’s edge and smoking, the light she’d seen the flame of his lighter. She turned to make her way down the pier toward him. The man was flicking the lighter on and then snuffing the flame out, and then repeating the action as he stared out over the waves. He glanced her way when her footsteps drew close.

“Hey, you,” Eva said in greeting. The smile that had bloomed across her face at the sight of him dimmed. Even in the weak light of a nearby lantern, Eva could see the dark circles under his eyes and the barely restrained frustration and rage on his face. “Still have a lot going on with work?”

Sebastian looked back out at the ocean. “Yeah, sorry about game night lately,” he answered, leaning his head against the pile behind him. Sebastian had taken on several new freelance contracts over the last couple of weeks and had practically disappeared. He’d called off their regular D&D sessions, saying he needed to catch up on his work. He had stopped showing up on Friday nights at the saloon. He had disappeared so completely, Eva had not been able to return his hoodie to him after her week was up. It was still draped on the headboard of her bed. Sebastian’s replies to Eva’s text messages had been sporadic at best and always came in the early hours of the morning, if they came at all. As she watched him smoke, Eva thought he looked completely burned out. Worry gnawed at her heart. “How’d your talk with the wizard go?” Sebastian asked her, clearly changing the subject.

Eva rolled her eyes and scoffed. “He was… less than helpful, to say the least,” she answered, sitting down on the top of the pile across from Sebastian. Less than helpful was an understatement. Eva had spent nearly fifteen minutes pounding on his tower’s door before the eccentric man had even answered, and then he had only cracked the door wide enough to stick his head out to glare at her. He’d listened to Eva explain the situation she and Sebastian had discovered, that Joja Corp was searching for ancient magical artifacts to sell to the war effort. Eva had to give the man that. He had listened, at least. But his response had not been what Eva was expecting. He’d mumbled about _This matter is hardly worth my attention, though I will investigate it nonetheless_ and then warned her to drop the subject entirely, saying _These are matters far beyond your mortal ken, even if you claim to be an expert on artifacts_ before slamming the door into her face. Eva had stood on his doorstep, stunned, for a moment before grumbling, “Fuck you, too.” She bit the inside of her cheek before turning the conversation back to whatever was going on with Sebastian. “You look awful,” she commented. “When did you last sleep?”

Sebastian shrugged. “Thanks for the compliment,” he said sarcastically, completely ignoring her question. 

“How much longer on these projects?” Eva pressed, watching him closely. 

“I don’t know,” Sebastian answered. He finished his cigarette, dropped he butt into a nearby metal bucket filled with sand, and immediately lit another one. “It may be a while before things calm down. I have a feeling I’ll need the money soon.” He sighed, smoke wreathing around his face. “If I just disappeared, would it really matter? No one would miss me.”

“I would,” Eva said. She slid off the pile and sat beside his legs. Eva reached for the hand that he had laying on one leg. For a moment, there was no reaction from Sebastian. Then, he squeezed her fingers and held them. “That sounds like a lot more than just work stress, Sebastian,” Eva said quietly. 

Sebastian finally turned to fully face her. “Permission to rant?” Eva nodded, bending one knee up to rest her chin on as she gave him her full attention. Sebastian shook his head, obviously gathering his thoughts, then said, “It’s Demetrius. You know he’s attached to Zuzu U, right?” Eva nodded again and he continued. “Well, his department’s funding keeps getting cut. His research is at risk of going under without the money. And I get that if he has to stop now, all the data he’s collected over the past couple of years becomes worthless. He’d have to start over. But, he’s using his and Mom’s money to keep his research running. Mom’s business isn’t doing that well, considering the war taxes and the state of the economy.” Eva was suddenly very glad she’d decided to spend the money on a shed and chicken coop before the winter. She had cringed when she wrote the check to Robin. Now, she was wishing she had more money to spend on farm buildings. Sebastian took a drag of his cigarette and kept talking. “It wouldn’t be a problem if Demetrius would take on extra lectures and classes. He’d get paid more and he could use that money to fund his research. But this semester he only accepted one online class, total. He’s barely getting paid anything now. And then he’s blowing an insane amount on Maru’s college and test prep, when she doesn’t even want to go to university. She wants to be a nurse, and she’s been working with Harvey long enough that he said he could write a letter and she’d basically be done with her nursing license, other than a few required classes and the final testing. But, Maru’s too afraid of telling Demetrius that, so there goes more money.”

He sighed again, releasing Eva’s hand to run it through his hair. When he dropped his hand again, he sought hers out and ran his thumb over her knuckles. “That would be frustrating enough,” Sebastian continued. “Him and Mom are arguing more than ever. But, for some reason, Demetrius has decided I’m the source of their money problems. Me. When I pay rent, half the utilities, part of the grocery bill. I pay for all my own stuff and the internet. I pay for my own insurance. I run Mom’s business website. I set up and maintain the servers for Demetrius’ work, free of charge. I help Mom with work when I don’t have any of my own. But I’m not ‘doing my part for the family’ and I ‘need to get a job and strike out on my own.’” Sebastian shook his head and dropped the remains of his cigarette into the metal bucket. “Like, what more does he want from me? He keeps demanding I pay my part of everything early, and now he’s starting to push to increase my rent. I can’t leave if he keeps expecting me to drain my savings to bail them out of his money problems.” His head dropped back against the pile with a thud Eva felt in the dock beneath her. “I honestly don’t know if they could make ends meet if I just left,” Sebastian admitted quietly. 

Eva was silent for a long time after he finished, trying to process it all. Finally, she said, “That’s a lot to carry.”

Sebastian snorted humorlessly. “You’re telling me,” he answered.“I know I wasn’t the easiest kid to deal with. I was rough on Demetrius. I just thought he wasn’t going to stay, that he was going to leave like my dad, you know? But, I’m trying now. It’s just… it’s not enough.” He sighed, squeezing Eva’s hand again. She squeezed it back, scooting closer until her leg was touching his. Sebastian said, “Mom’s gone all weekend for a convention, and I’m thinking about talking to Demetrius then. Laying everything on the table and hopefully clearing the air.”

Eva just hummed in reply. Her heart was heavy. And angry. She was furious at Demetrius. Eva knew the pain of watching funding being taken away and killing her dreams, but she had accepted the reality she saw. It was no excuse to treat anyone like Demetrius was treating Sebastian. But, Eva kept those feelings to herself. Sebastian had enough to carry. She could carry a little for him, even if it felt like her heart was going to fall through her under the weight. They sat in silence for a few minutes, the waves lapping against the pilings underneath the dock and the occasional clang of a nearby buoy the only sounds around them. Sebastian turned his head to stare into the fog again, then raised his head from the pile he sat against. Eva saw him narrow his eyes. “What is that?” he asked, pointing. 

Eva followed his finger. There was a large form half hidden in the fog, a few lights lining its shape. She blinked, peering at the darker shape silhouetted against the grey fog. Then, her mind connected all the corners and lines and her heart stuttered. “It’s a battleship.”

Sebastian sat upright. “Gotoran or ours?”

“Republic,” Eva answered. “The conning tower is too far forward to be a Gotoran ship.”

“Then why is it all the way out here?” Sebastian asked. Eva just shook her head, lost for an answer. Gotoran destroyers were notorious for having major failures while at sea, and so the Imperial navy never sent the ships far ranging. There was no reason for a Republic destroyer to be so far down the Ferngill coast and so far away from the war across the sea. Sebastian watched the ship for a few seconds, then picked his lighter up from the dock and stuffed it into a pocket. “I don’t like this,” he said, moving to stand.

“Same,” Eva agreed, taking the hand he offered and letting him pull her to her feet. Sebastian didn’t release her hand as they quickly walked toward the shore. He kept glancing over his shoulder at the ship’s shadow. 

A distant boom sounded from behind them. “What was that?” Sebastian breathed, looking over his shoulder once more. Two more booms thudded through the air. He put an arm around Eva, his hand pressed against the small of her back, hurrying off the pier and across the beach. “Please tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

Then, Eva heard a screaming whistle begin high above them. “Get down!” she screamed, grabbing Sebstian by the front of his jacket and pulling him to the sand. He fell on top of her, wrapping his arms over her head, just as an explosion hit the water of the harbor. Water and sand crashed over them where they huddled on the ground. Two more explosions rocked the ground, another landing in the water and the other ripping into the cliff face near Sophia’s vineyard to the west. Eva’s ears were ringing so badly she hardly heard the final shell hit, instead feeling it rumble through her bones.

Water was still spraying down when Eva shoved Sebastian off of her and began scrambling to her feet. “Come on,” she yelled at him. “They have to reload.” His ears must have been ringing as well, for he didn’t move. He just looked at her in confusion. Eva grabbed his arm and pulled him up, pointing toward the town. This time, Sebastian understood. He began running at her side. 

Eva shook her head, swallowed, anything to clear the ringing from her ears. The piercing scream of another shell cut through the noise in her head just before another hit sent the ground beneath her feet rolling. She fell, Sebastian falling beside her. He hauled her underneath him again, tucking her head against his chest as more shells battered the coastline. 

“Get up, you two!”

Hands roughly grabbed them both and hauled them to their feet. Eva found herself staring up at the wizard. He shook her a little, then shoved her towards town. “Get moving, unless you want to die,” he yelled, his voice somehow loud enough to pierce the ringing in Eva’s ears and echo through her head. “Now!” The wizard pushed Sebastian forward. He spared them one more look before turning toward the shore, flinging his hands wide. A purple shimmer filled the air just beyond the pier’s edge and grew outwards.

Sebastian grabbed Eva’s hand and ran. Eva’s brain was barely functioning as she allowed Sebastian to pull her along at a pace that would normally be too fast for her legs. Her eyes saw Gus and Pierre waving people inside their businesses, no doubt to shelter in their cellars. But her mind did not think the information important, did not tell her body they should be following the panicked townsfolk to safety. Instead, she focused on keeping her feet underneath her. She focused on her grip on Sebastian’s hand. That was what her brain deemed important. Something in her panicking mind latched onto that connection and decided that terrible things would happen if her hand slipped from his. So, no matter how she stumbled, no matter that she could not see as they ran beyond the town’s hub and the street lamps there, no matter how much her ears rang, her lungs burned, and her heart raced, Eva refused to let go of Sebastian’s hand. Even when a shell pierced the wizard’s shield and landed with a high plume of water and mud into the river not far to her right. Everything else, every other sense, stopped meaning anything to her brain. So, Eva didn’t realize they had fled into the mountains or were hurtling towards the door of Sebastian’s home until he burst through the door. He didn’t slow his steps, kicking the door closed behind them and leading them down the stairs to his basement room. Once inside, Eva’s legs failed. She collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. The ringing in her ears had finally faded to a dull annoyance, and Eva could hear Sebastian flicking the light switch up and down. The lights remained off. 

“You okay?” Sebastian asked in a trembling voice. Eva tried to find her own voice, but her lungs were too busy pulling air into her body. When she didn’t answer, Sebastian dropped to his knees, hands groping in the dark until he found her shoulders. Eva felt him cup her face. “Eva, are you okay?” Another distant boom shook through the house, and Eva heard one of the miniatures fall to the floor behind her. 

She nodded. Then, she managed to get out, “I’m okay, I think.” To her surprise, Sebastian pulled her into a crushing hug, tucking his face against the curve of her neck. Eva wrapped her arms around his back. She could feel the trembling that racked his body. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he answered, still crushing her against his chest.

Eva’s brain slowly began to return to full, coherent thought. “Sebastian, where’s your family?” she asked suddenly, realizing she hadn’t seen or heard anyone else in the house. 

Sebastian went still in her arms. “Shit,” he muttered. “Mom and Demetrius went on an impromptu date at the saloon. Maru’s working late at the clinic.” He released her from the hug and dug his phone from his pocket. The still panicking part of Eva’s brain started screaming a warning at her, telling her she needed to be touching Sebastian to be okay, to be safe. She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, trying to calm herself. After a few deep breaths and a couple different mantras from her yoga practice, Eva finally felt in control again. She dropped her hands and watched as Sebastian opened what looked like a family group text and typed out _At home. I’m okay. Sound off fam_. Then, he pushed himself up onto his feet, still lit by the light spilling from his phone’s screen. He ran a hand through his hair, stopping halfway along his head when he found it wet.

Eva blinked when he turned his phone screen towards her. “We’re both soaked,” Sebastian muttered. “I’ll go find towels.” He went into the bathroom connected to his room and came back with fluffy white towels. He handed her one, then stepped around her towards his dresser. He left his phone, now in flashlight mode, on the game table, the blue light casting eerie shadows across the space. “Do you want some dry clothes?”

“That would be nice,” Eva said as she shivered. Her leggings and sweater clung coldly to her and sand had already worked its way into the most uncomfortable of places. Eva forced herself to stand. Her legs were wobbly underneath her and the distant thud of another shell hitting the ground rocked her. Sebastian tossed a t-shirt and a pair of grey sweats to her. She walked unsteadily to the bathroom and stepped inside, but did not close the door. Her brain would not allow it. As soon as her hand reached for the door’s edge, her mind screamed in panic, sending her heart racing. The thought of being cut off from the light of Sebastian’s phone or separated from him by much more than space was too much. Eva just stepped deeper into the shadows and quickly pulled off her wet clothes. 

The sweats were far too long for her, and Eva had to roll the waistband up a couple of times. The t-shirt was loose on her, Sebastian’s shoulders much broader than hers. Before she walked out of the bathroom, she buried her face into the t-shirt’s front, inhaling Sebsatian’s scent to calm her mind. She dried her hair the best she could with the towel, still scrunching water out of the strands when she walked back into his room. She caught Sebastian pulling a fresh shirt on. His back was to her and she caught the last lines of a massive blackwork tattoo on his upper back. 

He turned, tossing his used towel into a hamper in the back corner, and picked up his phone, checking for messages. “Anything?” Eva asked, dropping her now wet towel into the same hamper. Her foot struck something on the floor. She bent down to find the black dragon miniature that had fallen and gently returned it to its shelf.

“No,” he answered. Sebastian dropped onto his bed with an anxious sigh, running both hands through his hair.

Eva carefully picked her way to him, her steps not as sure as his had been. She had never been in his room with no lights on and had never really paid much attention to the layout of the furniture. Her shins hit the metal side of the bedframe before she realized how close she was and she bit back a yelp. Eva sat down on the bed, sliding up against Sebastian where he reclined against his pillows. He stretched one arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Eva dropped her head onto his shoulder and soon she felt his head rest on top of hers. 

The sounds of exploding shells continued for a few minutes longer, then stopped. Eva found herself straining to hear something, anything, through the abrupt silence. Somehow, the silence was worse. Sebastian must have thought so too, for his grip on her arm grew tighter and he pressed her closer against his side. Eva’s fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as tears began to fall down her face. Images of a destroyed Pelican Town, the houses and square and saloon nothing but piles of smoldering rubble, filled Eva’s head. She wondered if Mistwood Farm had been hit. Naru would be hiding under the couch, wide-eyed and terrified, wondering where she was. Eva found herself hoping the cat would have had the sense to hide in the cellar, where he would be the safest. She then thought of Elliott and Leah, still in Elliott’s beach cabin when the first shells had fallen. Eva had grown up in Gotoro, where air raid drills and evacuation plans had been a part of normal life. She had spent years on military bases, where the sound of weapons fire was just background noise. There, in Gotoro, this was prepared for, expected. There, Eva would have hardly been shaken if shells had suddenly started dropping from the sky. But here, in the quiet, peaceful Pelican Town… It felt like something had been taken from her, something Eva hadn’t even known she had possessed. That feeling of loss collided with the aftermath of adrenaline, the worry, and the heavy press of the unknown fate of the town until Eva was quietly crying in Sebastian’s shoulder. 

Sebastian wrapped his other arm around her, turning towards her and tucking her against his chest. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered into her hair. He tugged a blanket over her and hugged her tight, saying it over and over again until the exhaustion of the night pulled her into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Waiting for the Barbarians" by J.M. Coetzee is one of my favorite books. I will always have a copy on my shelf. It's one of those life-changing books for me and I highly recommend it.


	8. Chapter 8

> Home is a shelter from storms - all sorts of storms.  
>  William J. Bennett

Tucking the packs of paper plates and plastic utensils she had just bought into her bag, Eva stepped out of Pierre’s store, the bell over the door jingling as the door swung closed behind her. Eva looked around Pelican Town, happy to find the small scars of the bombing had already begun to fade. The abysmal aim of the Republic destroyer and the wizard’s shield had protected the town from any major damage. There had been several broken windows and a few missing shingles when it was all over, but little else. No one had been harmed, either, a fact Eva was grateful for. The news channels had covered nothing but the incident for the past few days. Apparently, the ship had drifted off course in the fog, its instruments sent awry due to the magical interference around the wizard’s tower in the Cindersap Forest, and mistaken the lights of the town as a roving Gotoran destroyer. The commander of the ship had given the orders to open fire, believing Gotoro was finally retaliating for the destruction of the _Keening_. The anti-war sentiment throughout Ferngill was now the majority, and that majority was loud. The people of the Republic had turned their hate and vitriol on their elected leaders and the incompetent generals of the armed forces and away from Gotorans. Eva was trying hard not to get her hopes up, to not think about finally being able to return home to Gotoro, to not plan for her father’s promised visit to Mistwood, but it was difficult. She had to remind herself that nothing was settled, the war was not over, and would not be officially until the peace talks scheduled for Winter Star. If even then.

Eva smiled and waved at Dr. Harvey as she stepped away from Pierre’s. The doctor was sitting on the bench under the large oak tree next to the clinic, a steaming cup of tea resting beside him and a medical journal in his hands. “Dr. Harvey,” Eva called, making her way to him. “Just the man I was wanting to see.”

The doctor’s eyes flitted up and down her figure, concern on his face. “You’re not sick, Miss Lang, are you? Or hurt? The clinic is closed for the day, but if it’s pressing…”

Eva laughed and shook her head, producing a jar of homemade pickles from the bag at her side. “No, nothing like that. I wanted to give you this.” She presented the jar to him, which he took with confusion evident on his face. “It’s a ‘congratulations on being the town’s hero’ gift,” Eva explained with a smile. During the destroyer’s bombing, Dr. Harvey had gathered his courage, rushed out of the general store’s cellar and up into his living space above the clinic to radio the destroyer to cease fire. His message had ultimately stopped the bombardment, just as the wizard’s strength and magic had begun to fail him. The town had been abuzz with the story ever since, the townsfolk retelling the story to each other while they were repairing the damage that had been done. 

Harvey blushed as he took the jar. He stuttered out, “Oh, that’s… you didn’t have to… Thank you, Miss Lang, but I’m no hero. I’m just glad I could help.”

“I won’t keep you from your leisure time, doctor,” Eva said, hefting her bag higher on her forearm. The heat from the covered casserole dish inside radiated up and chased the autumn chill from her hands. “I’m on my way to Robin’s house with dinner, since she’s out of town this weekend. Enjoy your weekend, Dr. Harvey.” 

As she began walking away, Harvey called out, “Be careful on the road up into the mountains, especially in those heels. I wouldn’t want you to twist an ankle.”

Eva looked down at the peep-toe boots she had pulled on. It had become her Friday night tradition to wear heels to the saloon, especially after she spied Sebastian eyeing the lines of her legs. Eva had hoped she could convince Sebastian to take a break from work to come play pool, since he had missed the last month of Friday nights. “I’m a city girl, Dr. Harvey,” Eva answered with a brilliant grin. “I’ve walked much farther in much higher heels than these. I’ll be fine.”

“You really should consider not wearing heels,” the doctor continued, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose. “They’re really terrible for your posture and joints.”

Eva’s grin grew. “And deprive all of Pelican Town of this figure?” she asked, posing in a way that made her figure even more noticeable. She began laughing when Harvey sputtered into his mug, blushing furiously. “I think not. I’ll consider giving up my heels when you tell me I need back surgery because of them.” She left the doctor blushing on his bench and began the walk up to the Kael-Lautrec house at the base of the mountains.

Pushing the front door open, Eva paused when she heard raised voices from within. Then she entered Robin’s shop front, closing the door quietly behind her. The voices belonged to Demetrius and Sebastian. Neither sounded happy. Eva found Maru sitting in the lab, pointedly staring at the screen of her laptop with headphones in. Maru looked up and pulled the earbuds out when she saw Eva walk in and set her bag on the edge of the counter. Eva grimaced at the argument that was spilling from the back of the house down the hallway. “I’m guessing Sebastian’s talk with Demetrius didn’t go well,” Eva commented to Maru. She could not quite make out the words that were being yelled back and forth, but she could tell it was quite heated. 

“It was actually going really well at first,” Maru said, shoving her stool back and rising. She pulled the bag towards her and began emptying the contents. “Thanks for bringing dinner,” she said as she served herself from the salad and quinoa and sausage bake Eva had brought. “Dad and Sebastian took over the kitchen, so I can’t even heat up a freezer meal without getting caught in the crossfire. I’m starving.” Maru glanced at Eva, who was standing in the doorway and staring down the hallway, worrying her bottom lip with her fingers. “You might not want to be here.”

“Why not?” Eva asked, looking at her.

Maru pushed her salad around on the paper plate for a bit before she answered, not looking up. “Dad and Sebastian were actually talking things over, not arguing or anything, like they did back when Mom made them go to counselling together. And then… The yelling started when Dad said something about you…” Maru’s voice trailed off.

Eva gaped at her. “All this yelling is about me?” she asked, stunned. “What did Demetrius say?”

Maru shrugged, still not looking at Eva. “Dad brought up what happened the night of the bombing.” Eva blinked for a minute, trying to understand what Demetrius could have possibly taken issue with. Then, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had fallen asleep against Sebastian on his bed when the adrenaline crash had hit. Sebastian had fallen asleep too, holding his phone waiting for an answer from his family, as well as from Sam and Abigail. Eva had woken up when the lights suddenly came back on and Robin burst into the room, rushing to them and pulling them both into crushing hugs. Eva remembered the disapproving look on Demetrius’s face she had seen over Robin’s shoulder. That look had only gotten worse when he saw Eva wearing Sebastian’s clothes. He hadn’t said anything at the time and Eva had not given it any further thought in the days that followed. 

Eva shook her head. “Your dad knows why I was wearing Sebastian’s clothes, right? Nothing happened.”

“I know that,” Maru answered. She had been behind Demetrius on the stairs that night, almost in tears with worry and shock. “Dad knows that. Sebastian told him that.” She took a deep breath and looked back down at her plate, her dinner suddenly extremely interesting. “Dad may have called you a ‘scarlet woman.’ Made it sound like it was Sebastian’s fault. That’s when Sebastian lost it.”

Eva was silent for several moments. “Wow,” she breathed. “I’ve been called many things, but being called a whore is a new one.”

Angry footsteps coming down the hall caused both women to turn. Sebastian stormed past the doorway and down the stairs to his room. Eva followed behind him, calling his name. “Sebastian,” she said, slipping through the door he only partially opened as he burst into his room.

Sebastian moved through his room in a rage, pulling his backpack from under the couch and starting to shove things into it. “I don’t live here anymore,” he said through clenched teeth when Eva stepped into the room. 

Eva shut the door behind her. “He kicked you out?” 

“Yeah, said he wouldn’t ‘condone my behavior’ in his house,” Sebastian disappeared under his desk and reappeared a moment later with his laptop’s cord in hand. He stuffed it, along with the laptop, into the backpack.

“I can go ask him to say it to my face,” Eva said, the anger she felt clipping into her voice. “And I’ll tell him exactly what happened.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sebastian answered bitterly, still packing. “It’s done. I’m going into the city. I’ll get a hotel room until I find an apartment.”

Eva stepped in front of him as he headed for the bathroom. She gently gripped his arms in her hands, stopping him and making him look at her. “Stop and breathe, for just a minute,” she said. Eva was surprised when he didn’t try to push past her. He looked down at her and waited for her to continue speaking. “You can’t just run into the city,” Eva said. “A hotel would cost you a fortune. It would destroy the savings you’ve worked so hard to get. Housing is hard to find in the city and it’s expensive. You can’t just find a place in a couple of days.”

“I’ve got nowhere else to go,” Sebastian said quietly. “He wants me out tonight.”

“I have a spare room,” Eva said. “You can stay with me until you get your feet under you, until you have a plan.” Sebastian stepped out of her grip at that. Eva followed him, keeping herself in front of him. “Why are you refusing to consider that option?” she pressed.

Sebastian’s shoulders sagged. “I need to prove to him I can make it on my own.”

“And bankrupting yourself is not the way to do that,” Eva stated, crossing her arms across her chest. “You want to prove him wrong? Then slow down and be smart.”

Sebastian’s eyes roamed around his room before coming back to Eva. He regarded her for a moment before he said, “Fine. But it’s the same deal I had here. I pay rent, I pay for my share of groceries, utilities.”

Eva nodded. “We can hammer out those details later. Now tell me what you need to take tonight.” She began helping him pack his things, easily moving around him without getting in his way. Eva realized just how naturally they worked together and wondered briefly when that had happened. She glanced over at him. Sebastian was filling a duffel bag with clothes, kneeling on the floor in front of his dresser. The anger that had been radiating from him when he had first come down was gone. Resignation had seemed to take its place, but Eva could see the hurt underneath. She looked away. Eva could not stand to see that pain on his face. She had heard the worry in his voice when he had talked about his family’s finances on the pier. She had seen his frantic fear of losing his family, even Demetrius, when the shells were falling on the town. Eva knew he had tried to make things right with his stepfather. Part of her, a small voice that lived with her own fears and anxieties, whispered that this was her fault. Eva stamped down hard on that murmuring voice, refusing to listen to it. Instead, she chose to pick up the anger Sebastian had set down. 

She had been simmering that anger for several minutes by the time the door swung open and Demetrius stepped in. His steps stuttered when he saw Eva. Then, the man just crossed his arms across his chest and turned to face Sebastian, dismissing Eva entirely. “I need your house key,” Demetrius said to Sebastian. 

“He’ll give it to you by noon tomorrow,” Eva said, rising from where she had been packing. Demetrius and Sebastian both looked at her with stunned expressions on their faces. Eva pulled herself to her full height, using her heels to her advantage. “You’ll get the key after we’ve moved the rest of his belongings out. I will be bringing my truck by first thing in the morning. Surely you will give him that chance, since Sebastian has been paying rent. It is the law, after all.” The thought of Sebastian having to leave his collection of books, the computer he built from scratch, the keyboard where he wrote songs, or the miniatures he had so beautifully painted because of Demetrius’s blind prejudice against him was too much. The anger that had been simmering began to boil inside her. Eva locked her eyes onto Demetrius, adopting the cold, hard expression she had used so often at Joja Corp. It was the expression that had made her a force to be reckoned with, an immovable opponent that knew she’d already won the argument and was simply waiting for the other person to realize it. When Demetrius met her gaze with a stubborn one of his own, Eva only held it, raising one eyebrow in challenge. 

Demetrius faltered first, just like Eva knew he would. He muttered something like, “That’s reasonable. Noon tomorrow. But no later.” and then retreated from the room, closing the door behind him. 

Sebastian remained frozen by his bed, where he had been tightly folding his bedding to stuff into the duffel bag at his feet. He was half bent over and had watched the brief exchange through his dark bangs. Then, he huffed out what might have been a laugh and Eva looked at him, her expression softening. “You must have been hell in heels at Joja,” he said quietly. 

Eva flashed him a bright smile she certainly did not feel, not when she saw the hurt in his face. “What do you mean, ‘was’? I still am.”

“Yeah, you still are,” Sebastian answered with a short-lived smile. He finished stuffing his bedding into the duffel bag, zipped it up, and slung the strap over his shoulder. He took a deep breath, looking around his room as if he was soaking in the details. 

Eva walked over to his side and put her hand on his arm. “Let’s go,” she whispered. Sebastian only nodded and let her lead the way. Demetrius was nowhere to be seen when they topped the stairs. Maru had her headphones in once again, a second plate of food in her hands. She gave Sebastian a small, sad wave as they walked by. Sebastian returned it before he stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jacket. 

Eva set them on the mountain path that wound its way through the forest behind Mistwood Farm. Sebastian walked at her side, hands still in his pocket and his head tucked down close to his chest. Eva slipped her arm through the crook of his, but remained silent. She had no idea what to say. While she knew what it was like to feel out of place, homesick, blocked from home by others, this was to a depth she knew she could not understand. Even having Gotoro deny her visa, when she had grown up in Gotoro, all because she had been born on a Ferngill military base when her father had served in the Republic army due to the latest coup happening in Gotoro, all because she was technically not a citizen of the only country she had memories of, did not compare to being thrown out. Eva would always have the hope that she’d one day be able to return home. That was a hope Sebastian did not have. She could see it on his face, in the slump of his shoulders under the weight of his backpack and duffel bag, in the far off look in his eyes. Eva leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked. After several steps, she felt him press his cheek against her head.

Once they had reached the farmhouse, Eva held open the door for Sebastian, then pointed to the door on the opposite side of the living room. “It’s rather small,” she said, trying to push a squawking Naru away from Sebastian with one foot. “If it’s too small or dark or anything, I can move the things I’m storing in a room at the back of the house.” Eva felt like she was babbling. She just had not thought of anything to say to Sebastian. She had studied words and languages, but all that knowledge was failing her at that moment. Nothing she could say could take away the pain she could see Sebastian feeling. “There’s an empty dresser already in there, and the bed is already made. I can bring you more blankets, if you need them.”

“It’s fine, Eva,” Sebastian muttered to her as he walked towards the door. 

“Do you want dinner?” Eva asked. “I can cook or I can go get something from the Stardrop.”

Sebastian paused in the doorway to his new room. “I’m going to go to bed,” he said in a flat voice. Then, he finally looked up from his feet. “Thank you, Eva. Really. Good night.”

“Night,” Eva called back as he shut the door. Eva hugged herself tightly and leaned against the front door. She looked down at Naru. The cat stretched up her legs and meowed. Eva scratched him between the ears. “We’ll need help tomorrow morning,” she told Naru, who answered her with a loud meow. Eva pulled her phone from her back pocket and began texting Sam and Abigail. She wondered if she should even tell them about the evening’s events, leaving her phone on the counter with the message unsent while she made herself a salad for dinner. Naru darted around her feet, meowing for a bite despite having eaten his own dinner only an hour earlier. Eva’s eyes kept sliding over to the small darkened window that looked into what was now Sebastian’s room. She had set a potted plant in the sill on the living room’s side and hung a shade on the other. The shade was pulled, like it always was, and no light shined around the edges. Eva had intended for that room to serve as a guest room when she had decorated it in simple greys and clean, crisp whites. Eva had always imagined her father would be the one staying there, once the war was over. Knowing Sebastian now had claim over it made the bright blue accents she had chosen feel wrong, and for some reason that was the detail her brain latched onto. It was easier than facing the full reality. Eva looked down at Naru and said, “Robin is going to kill Demetrius when she gets home.” The cat just blinked at her in answer. 

When Naru realized she was only having a salad, he padded over to the closed door and sat in front of it, his yellow eyes watching the door knob. Eva sighed, drumming the table with her fingernails as she stared at her phone and the fourth unsent draft to Sam and Abigail. A couple of unanswered messages from both of her friends stood above her text box, asking where she and Sebastian were. Abigail’s texts were full of suggestive innuendo and Sam’s was just a rapid fire barrage of the same question -- _Where are you guys?_

Eva had finished her salad and washed the bowl before she finally sent a message that simply read _Be at Mistwood at 7am. Dress to work. I need help moving some stuff._ Sebastian could explain as much as he wanted, Eva decided. Then, she stacked more wood into the stove in the kitchen and the living room fireplace to keep the house warm during the night, turned out the lights, and climbed the steps to her loft bedroom. At the top of the stairs, she looked over her shoulder to the guest room door and _tsked_ at Naru. “You coming?” she asked softly. In the flickering light of the fireplace, she saw Naru turn his big eyes to her. His yellow eyes were all she could see in the dark, glowing gold. The cat blinked once, then turned back to face the door. Eva sighed, ducking through the curtains at the loft’s edge, and made her way to her bed. Once under the sheets and puffy comforter, Eva curled up tightly around herself and cried silently into her pillow.

***

The following day, Sam and Abigail showed up at the farmhouse as Eva had requested, gladly agreeing to help load the bulk of Sebastian’s things into Eva’s truck and move them into his room at Mistwood Farm. Handing his house key to Demetrius when they were done was the moment it fully hit Sebastian. He watched the house grow smaller in the side mirror of the truck as Eva drove back into town, glad that Sam and Abigail were riding in the truck bed. The cabin was silent without their chatter and Eva had been quiet the entire morning. Sebastian thought her eyes looked a little puffy and red under her makeup. He wordlessly stretched an arm towards her, brushing his knuckles against her leg. She responded by dropping a hand from the steering wheel to hold his.

After they had finished piling his stuff into his room, Sam and Abigail left and Eva went out into her fields to work. Sebastian just sat on the edge of the bed in the silent farmhouse and stared blankly at the stack of boxes they had set in the center of the room. Naru jumped up beside him, purring loudly and rubbing his cheek against Sebastian’s arm. He scratched the cat’s head. “Guess we’re roommates, little demon,” Sebastian said. Naru meowed back and Sebastian huffed a quiet laugh. “You gonna help me get settled in?” Another meow and Naru leapt off the bed and disappeared into the middle of the boxes. Knowing the cat was likely to chew on the loose cords to his keyboard if he left him alone, Sebastian played music from his phone and got to work. 

Sebastian did not truly settle in that day, or in the following week. He wasn’t sure when he actually settled into the flow of life at Mistwood Farm. He spent his days much like he had before, taking freelance contracts and working, often into the late hours of the night or the early hours of the next day. After his first week at the farm, Sam and Abigail came over for their usual game night, and the four friends sprawled around Eva’s kitchen table while they infiltrated a castle controlled by a vampire lord -- the same lord Eva’s character had distracted at a ball a few sessions before -- who turned out to be a victim of a cult’s scheming and not the villain of the story. The jokes and banter were the same as always, Eva’s homemade snacks the best out of the spread, just like it had been before. The only difference was that Eva had to fight Naru away from the table, eventually shutting the cat in Sebastian’s room to keep him from pouncing on their dice from the nearby clothes dryer. Sebastian still went to the Stardrop on Friday nights for dinner and pool. That was the same, except that Eva was at his side on the walk to town and back. Little really changed, or at least that’s how it first felt. 

But the little things that were different in his life made an impression. When he thought about them, he realized most of those things revolved around Eva. Like when he had trudged to the kitchen for coffee after an all-nighter on a project and found Eva in the living room doing yoga before the sun was up. Or finally discovering what the fragrances she’d left on his favorite hoodie were when he added his own toiletries to the bathroom they now shared -- rosemary, vanilla, and rose water. Maybe shea or cocoa butter. Sebastian still was not sure, even after seeing all of Eva’s lotions, soaps, shampoos, and other random creams in the bathroom. There were a lot of them. Sebastian had given up on reading all of the labels and trying to figure out what they were all for.

Little things like knowing she had named her orchid, which lived in the bathroom’s single window. Sebastian had heard her bid Stella good night one evening after Eva had brushed her teeth. He was still trying to figure out if Eva had named all of her house plants. Two weeks after he’d moved in, Sebastian caught her talking to the draping succulent over the kitchen sink, calling it Rapunzel. 

He also knew she had named all of her new chickens after characters from period novels and dramas. Sebastian may have made fun of her mercilessly for it. At least until she won a game of pool the following Friday night and he had to watch the entirety of a period romance miniseries called North and South with her. Sebastian could have done without fully understanding why she had named her broody rooster Mr. Thornton. Though, having her lean against him while they watched the show and shared a mixing bowl full of popcorn may have made losing that wager worth it. Not that Sebastian was ever going to admit that to her. And he still put more effort into his pool game the next time Eva wagered he had to watch another period movie with her if he lost.

There were other small things that suddenly mattered. How Eva tended to stretch, often burying her fingers into her hair, at the end of the day. Or how she sometimes danced along with her music as she moved through the house. Things like the fact that she listened to mellow jazz and ambient chillstep when she was reading, but preferred rock or cheerful pop music when she was cooking or cleaning. Sebastian even caught her singing along to one of his songs as he practiced on his keyboard, which he’d set up behind her couch in the living room, while she canned pumpkins and beets one Saturday morning. He’d smiled to himself and had practiced longer than he’d originally planned, just to hear her beautifully haunting vibrato.

Small things like how colorfully Eva could curse when she was trying to knit. Grandma Evelyn had apparently tried to teach her, to little success. Sebastian had been unable to hold in his laughter one afternoon while he was playing piano when Eva let loose a stream of vulgarity in her cultured accent. The icy glare she’d thrown at him over the back of the couch had made him clamp his mouth shut, realizing just how horrible of an idea it was to laugh at her when she was holding large metal needles in her hands.

Sebastian learned Eva loved herbal tea and had actually started a large herb garden in the farmhouse’s backyard to make her own blends. It became just another part of the day to see her curled up in the living room’s armchair or on the couch with a mug of tea and a book in the evenings, after her work was done. The farmhouse would fill with the smell of peppermint, lavender, or cardamom from her mugs. Sebastian tried one particular brew one night, and decided he’d stick with coffee. 

As the season drew to a close, Eva spent more time indoors, reading. Sebastian watched her begin to devour books, finishing the entirety of Ryan’s _Raven’s Shadow_ series in a single weekend, followed by Sanderson’s _Mistborn_. He actually started leaving the door to his room open at night when he was working, just so he could watch the facial expressions she made while reading. A thin line would form between her eyebrows when the plot grew tense. Her eyes would grow wide when plots twists or other surprising events happened. Eva actually gasped out loud, her fingertips pressed to her lips, while she was reading Bardugo’s _Six of Crows_. She finished that book in less than twenty-four hours, immediately bursting into his room to pull its sequel, _Crooked Kingdom_ , off his shelf. The following day, Sebastian heard her crying over a character’s death. She’d swatted at him as he walked behind the couch to get more coffee that night. “You couldn’t have warned me this book would rip out my heart?” she asked, still wiping tears from her face. 

“It didn’t make me cry,” had been his answer. 

“You’re as cold as Kaz, then.”

Sebastian had laughed as he poured himself another cup of coffee. “I thought you liked bad boys?” he said with a roguish grin.

Eva had only muttered, “Just because I find Brekker’s aesthetic highly appealing means nothing, Sebastian.” as she rose from the couch and disappeared into his room. When she came back out, she was holding the first book in the _Wheel of Time_ series. Sebastian had thought that series, with over eleven thousand pages, would keep her occupied through winter, if not longer. Apparently, Eva read faster than was humanly possible. Or she had stopped sleeping for two weeks. Sebastian wasn’t sure which was more plausible.

Sebastian had found it easy to slip into Eva’s daily schedule. Maybe she had made it easy for him to do so. But he found that they naturally moved around each other, often with no communication. Sebastian offered to cook dinner for them three nights out of the week. Sunday nights, they cooked together, doing meal preps for lunches for the week. He learned that Eva was a serious foodie, unable to resist a spice blend she did not already have, no matter the price. She was always printing new recipes to try. When she actually sat down to watch TV, which was rare, she always turned on _Queen of Sauce_. Sebastian quickly realized Eva ate a salad with almost every meal, including breakfast, and sometimes as a late night snack. And he may have teased her, calling her a rabbit, for it. But he still made sure he included a salad with dinner on the nights he cooked.

Though, her status as a foodie did not prevent her from indulging in everything pumpkin spice. Sebastian watched her eat and drink so much pumpkin spice flavored stuff he began to wonder if that was why her hair was the bright orange auburn it was. He teased her about her pumpkin spice obsession over breakfast one morning, when he found her eating a pumpkin spice bagel with pumpkin spice butter spread on top, a mug of pumpkin spice coffee beside her plate. 

Teasing each other became a regular pastime. No topic was safe or sacred. Sebastian mocked Eva over how much sugar and cream she poured into her coffee and she made fun of how much he fussed over his hair, going so far as to ruffle his bangs as often as she could. Life with Eva became a continual stream of friendly jokes, banter, and mocking comments, often punctuated by Eva’s glares or swats and Sebastian throwing a pen or crumbled piece of paper at her. Eva always threw whatever projectile he had used back at him. Her aim was far better than his. Naru loved it when they started throwing things at each other. The cat would scamper across the back of the couch and try to leap at the object flying through the air, just adding to the momentary chaos.

One evening, Sebastian had left his computer to take a break and get more coffee, passing the couch where Eva was huddled up reading, Naru at her feet. She was completely engrossed in the book, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open slightly. The faint blush in her cheeks caught Sebastian’s eye and he looked at the book to see what she was reading. It wasn’t one of his. He thought it might have been Abigail’s. Eva didn’t move when he leaned over the edge of the couch and read the page she was on. He snorted in surprise, then read a passage out loud. “ _He brought his lips to my ear. ‘I would have been gentle with you, though.’ I shuddered as I closed my eyes. Every inch of my body went taut as his words echoed through me. ‘I would have had you moaning my name throughout it all. And I would have taken a very, very long time, Feyre.’_ How on earth did Abigail get you to read this?”

Eva jumped, slamming the open book against her chest to hide the pages, and tilted her head to look at him. Her blush was brighter, flaring across her face. “She kept saying I would enjoy the main love interest,” she said sheepishly. It was the first time Sebastian had seen her truly embarrassed. “I don’t know why. He’s a brute. This is just a smutty retelling of _Beauty and the Beast_.”

Sebastian laughed and walked into the kitchen to refill his mug. “Eva Lang, educated professional woman, blushing over a smutty romance novel.”

“You can shut your mouth, Sebastian Kael,” she said, rising from the couch. “I’m only reading it to get Abigail to leave me alone about it.”

He had hummed in a doubtful response. Eva just rolled her eyes and started up the stairs. “I’m taking Abigail’s trashy book upstairs to bed,” she muttered.

Sebastian opened the fridge to grab one of the pumpkin bars Eva had made that morning. “I’ll be sure to put headphones in, then.” Eva had stopped on the stairs above the fridge, blinking down at him in confusion. Then, when she caught the innuendo, she swatted at his head with the book. Sebastian reeled back to avoid the blow. “You spill my precious coffee, woman, and you’re dead,” he threatened with a wide smile. Her blush had spread across her entire face and down her neck. He was going to tease her relentlessly over romance novels, now that he knew he could get such an easy rise out of her. 

Eva sputtered, “That is not what I meant, and you know it,” before hurrying up the stairs.

“Night, Eva,” Sebastian had called as he walked back to his room to continue working. 

He could tell from the sound of her voice that she was smiling when she called back, “Good night, Sebastian.”

After a month of living at Mistwood Farm, Sebastian found he was completely comfortable around Eva. When he had first accepted her offer, he’d been worried he would be in her way. Eva had always seemed ambitious, driven, practical, always focused on the next task, the next goal. And she was all those things, of course. But, now, Sebastian saw the side of her she rarely showed in public. Eva worked hard, yes, but when she relaxed, she fully relaxed. When she was in her home, all pretense of being a perfectly put together professional woman dropped. After she had showered the day’s dirt and grime off, her hair was either left down in damp waves or pulled up into a loose, messy bun, stray wisps everywhere. Her work boots and heels would disappear and be replaced with fuzzy slippers or socks with cute animal patterns. It did not take long for Sebastian to learn the difference between her with makeup on and without. He got to see Eva, just Eva, and just Eva was warm, kind, gentle, and sweet, all the things life had tried to stamp out of her. Or maybe she had tried to stamp those things out of herself while she had been chasing success in the city. All Sebastian knew was he thought just Eva was cute, curled up like a cat on the couch in an oversized sweater with her face pink and shiny after washing it with one of her many scented soaps or scrubs or whatever, completely enthralled by one of his fantasy novels.

For all her drive, Sebastian felt no pressure to keep up with her, to do more, be more. Not like he had felt from Demetrius. Every time he moved around Eva’s space, she would look up at him and smile and Sebastian would feel like she saw him and thought he was enough. It was that feeling that kept him at Mistwood Farm, even when the payments for his last few projects came in and gave him plenty of funds to move into Zuzu City. Sebastian had looked at his bank account’s balance one day, told himself he needed to work a few more contracts before he could comfortably move, and then realized he had just given himself an excuse to stay longer. He’d closed the browser tab and gone out to smoke on the front porch and refused to examine that thought while he sat in the swing and watched Eva work in her fields and orchard. 

Eva left to take her final harvest into town early one morning, late in the autumn season. Sebastian had gotten up early to help her load the last of the bushels and crates into her truck, then stood in the chill dew of the morning for a while, just listening to the wind in the trees before going back inside to work. Eva was still gone when he took a smoke break a couple hours later. Naru was stretched across the entire porch swing, his bottlebrush tail swaying and twitching over one side, so Sebastian sat on the porch steps instead. He let his head drop back against the top step and closed his eyes. The air had the cold bite of early winter in it, underneath the woodsmoke and loamy smell of fallen leaves. It was the time of year Sebastian liked the most. A stiff wind blew over the hill, sending dry leaves skittering, and howled around the farmhouse’s edges and corners. It was a lonely, sad sound, but Sebastian found that he loved it. He kept his eyes closed, enjoying his cigarette, and was glad he would be able to hear the howling gales from his bed inside the house come winter. He had never been able to listen to the wind in his basement room. 

The crunch and scuff of boots approaching pulled his wandering mind back. Sebastian opened his eyes and sat up, finding his mother walking towards him. He had known Robin would be on the farm that morning, beginning work on repairing the old greenhouse on the river’s banks, past Eva’s fields. He had seen her red truck parked by the river when he had gone to feed Eva’s chickens that morning. Robin smiled at him, and Sebastian felt a pang in his chest when it wasn’t as wide and bright as usual. “Hey, Mom,” he said as she neared the porch. 

“I wasn’t sure if you’d acknowledge me,” she said. “You’ve ignored my texts and calls.”

Sebastian winced. He had ignored them for the past month. He hadn’t known how to answer them, what to say. He ran a hand through his hair and then rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Mom. I… I didn’t want to make things worse, with you and Demetrius.” He took a hard drag on his cigarette and then snuffed it out. Robin had never liked him smoking and he always tried not to do it in front of her. “How are things? Everything okay?”

Robin sank down onto the bottom step with a quiet groan. “You’re the one who got kicked out and you’re asking if we’re okay.” She shook her head, smiling sadly at him. “We’re okay. Demetrius is working his way out of the doghouse with me -- literally working -- but we’re gonna be okay. We’re going back to counseling. Maru’s coming, too.”

“That’s expensive,” Sebastian commented. He immediately started running numbers through his head. He knew without his rent and help with the utilities their budget would be tight. 

“It is,” Robin admitted. “It’s about what Maru’s online test prep tutor costs a week. Good thing she’s dropping that.” She smiled at Sebastian’s shocked expression. “What? Maru doesn’t need it, anyway. Especially after she broke down in the first counseling session and told Demetrius she doesn’t want to go the traditional academic route.”

“She told him everything?” 

Robin nodded. “She did. Said she pulled courage from her big brother to do it.” Sebastian huffed out a quiet laugh and shook his head, the idea that Maru had looked up to him for something seeming too unreal. Robin took a deep breath and slowly released it. “Honestly, I still don’t think Demetrius has realized just how much pressure he put on you both. Or that he pushed you and Maru in the same way. But, he’ll see it, eventually. That’s why we’re paying a therapist the big bucks.” She patted his knee. “Demetrius is also going to be teaching a full load of lectures next semester. That’s his penance for hiding the true finances from me.” Robin looked at Sebastian, shaking her head. “Why did you not tell me he was asking you for more money?”

Sebastian half shrugged. “I didn’t want to come in between you two,” he repeated. He pushed his hands into his jacket pockets and stared down at the hole in his jeans instead of looking at his mom. He had been too young to remember his father or the immediate aftermath of his parents’ divorce. But he remembered how bright Robin’s smile had been when she started dating Demetrius. Demetrius had always made her happy, even when they weren’t getting along or when Robin made them see a therapist together during Sebastian’s teenage years. Sebastian hadn’t wanted to ruin that for her. 

“Oh, Sebby,” Robin said, moving to sit beside him on the steps. “You didn’t have to carry that burden. You know that, right?”

“I know, Mom. But I still did.”

“You could come home, you know?”

Sebastian looked at her then. She was watching him closely. He half shrugged again, looking away. He couldn’t tell her that he would never think of her house as home again. There were just some things you could never take back, never quite forgive and forget, never fully move past. Getting kicked out of your childhood home was one of those. “I’m good, but thanks, Mom.”

“Are you okay, Sebastian?”

He had known she would ask him that question. It was one of the reasons he had avoided returning her calls or answering her texts. Sebastian had spent weeks not fully sure if he was okay. He had never felt more adrift in his life than he had in the last month. But, at the same time, a part of him felt like he had never been more at home. “I think I am,” he answered. 

“You know, a therapist would help you figure that out,” his mom replied with a laugh. 

Sebastian gave her a playful shove and her laugh grew louder. “Been there, done that. No thanks.”

Robin asked, “Would you tell me if you weren’t okay?”

“You know me,” Sebastian hedged. 

“Yes, I do,” Robin said. “You would just carry it in silence, not wanting to bother anyone with it. Because you care about the people around you, more than you let on.”

Sebastian laughed. “Careful, Mom, or you’ll make me sound like a decent person, ruin my bad boy reputation.” Robin laughed along with him. They sat on the steps of the farmhouse together in comfortable silence for several minutes. Sebastian had always appreciated that about his mother. She always knew when to talk, when to push and press for more information, and when to just let things be quiet. Robin always knew when to let him break the silence between them. Sebastian glanced sideways at her. She was looking around at the porch, no doubt checking how her work had held up over the seasons. “Are you waiting on Eva for something?” he asked her. 

Robin nodded, pulling her eyes away from the underside of the porch’s tin roof. “I needed to ask her something about the greenhouse,” she said. She looked at him and smiled. “And I wanted to know what she had to do to get you to feed her chickens before noon for her.”

“She won a game of pool,” Sebastian grumbled, causing Robin to laugh. “Eva’s a nightmare to play against when she’s got something she really wants on the line.” Robin regarded him for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek. When she didn’t say what she clearly wanted to, Sebastian gave her a flat stare. “Go ahead and say it, Mom.”

“Nothing, nothing. I’ve just noticed you haven’t asked her out yet.” 

Sebastian returned his hands to his jacket pocket and shrugged. “Things have been weird enough without me complicating it,” he said.

Robin stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh dear Yoba,” she muttered. When he raised his eyebrows at her, she said, “You’re taking things slow with a girl. That must mean you’re gonna marry her. I’ll go ahead and start calling Eva my daughter-in-law.”

“Please don’t,” Sebastian begged. “Seriously, please don’t.” He heaved out a deep breath. “Not that it matters. As soon as the war is over, Eva’s going back to Gotoro.”

“In the past, that wouldn’t have stopped you,” Robin commented. She propped one elbow against the floor of the porch and rested her chin on a hand, her attention fully on Sebastian. “The fact that it is stopping you tells me a lot about how you feel about her.”

“I’m glad one of us knows how I feel,” Sebastian muttered. Though, if he was honest with himself, he knew exactly how he felt. Part of him was afraid of those feelings. Afraid that Eva would not feel the same way about him, despite all of her obvious flirting. Afraid that they’d try a relationship and life would drag them apart, pull them in separate directions. Afraid that he’d screw it up. The fear that she would get close enough to see all of him and suddenly decide he was not enough for her, the fear that she would then just walk away and not look back, like so many people had done in his life. That fear had kept him from acting on the growing feelings Sebastian felt for Eva. He had finally felt seen by someone, truly seen, and he was afraid of giving the power to break him to that person. Now that he had seen the warm, imperfect human side of Eva, Sebastian was afraid that life would take it away and turn Eva into someone cold and distant. So, he just made himself be content with what he had, with the close friendship between them. “Can you please not say anything to Eva, Mom?” Sebastian asked Robin. “She doesn’t know how I feel.”

Robin answered, “You don’t have to worry about me telling her, Sebby. I can’t say the same for the rest of the town, though. Everyone has seen how you look at her on Friday nights.” Sebastian groaned and pushed himself to his feet, saying something about needing to get back to work. Demetrius’s voice calling Eva a _scarlet woman_ echoed in Sebastian’s head. Guilt rippled through his chest. Robin continued, unaware of what he was thinking. “Of course, the entire town has also seen how she looks at you on Friday nights, too.”

Sebastian stopped, the front door half open. Naru bolted off the swing and raced inside, disappearing into Sebastian’s room. Probably to steal one of his pens. He would have to count the pens he kept in a cup on his desk. Sebastian stared at his mom. “What are you talking about?” 

Robin shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m just saying that not even Eva cares that much about a game of pool.” The full weight of her gaze fell onto Sebastian, and Robin gave him a motherly, knowing look. “She likes you, too, Sebby.”

“I don’t have a chance with her,” Sebastian replied. The rumble of Eva’s truck coming up the dirt road reached him. It matched the thudding of his heart. He had always thought he didn’t have a hope of being more than friends with Eva. Even though Eva seemed to have a thing for the rogues, scoundrels, and bad boys in books and movies, Sebastian knew women really only liked the idea of guys like that. And he was really just a nerd who preferred his computer to people, when you got to know him. No matter how you spun it, he wasn’t long-term, serious relationship material, and Sebastian knew it. He was the kind of guy you flirted with, maybe went home with once or twice, nothing more. And Eva was not the kind of woman who went home with that kind of guy. Sebastian shook his head. “You’re wrong, Mom,” he said. “There’s no way Eva would date me.”

“You’ll never know unless you ask,” Robin answered. “And you’ll regret it if you never know for sure.” She stood, dusting off her heavy work pants as Eva parked her truck and jumped out of the cab. “Love you,” Robin called over her shoulder with a wave. 

Love you too, Mom,” Sebastian called back before disappearing into the house and then his room. He leaned against the wall for a moment, thinking about what Robin had said. _Maybe I should give it a shot,_ Sebastian thought to himself. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out one of the loose d20 dice that rolled around inside. Naru stuck his fluffy head around one of Sebastian’s monitors to blink up at him. “I’ll ask her,” Sebastian told the cat. “I’ll ask her out if I roll a twenty.” Naru meowed, as if in agreement. Sebastian rattled the die in his palm for a few seconds. “This is a stupid, nerdy way to decide to ask a girl out,” he muttered to himself, then let the dice roll onto his desk. 

Naru’s paw shot out and knocked it from the desk. The cat was already tearing from the room, his ears laid back, before the die hit the ground. “You’re a demon,” Sebastian called after him. The black cat just yowled in answer from somewhere under the couch. Sebastian bent to pick up the d20. His fingertips stopped just above it and he stared at the number on the top face. 

It was a twenty.

***

“I’m not moving,” Eva said. She was perched on the corner of the pool table in the Stardrop’s rec room and Sebastian was staring her down with his arms crossed, his pool cue resting in the crook of his elbow. It was his shot and the white cue ball was just inches away from her hip. “I’m not blocking the pocket.”

“You’re blocking my shot,” Sebastian countered. “And if you’re trying to distract me, it’s not working.” 

“It’s not?” Eva asked, batting her eyelashes at him. She crossed her legs in front of her, trying to draw his eyes down to the velveteen boots that rose to her thighs and the strip of bare skin that showed between them and her high waisted shorts. She knew it had been a stupid choice of clothes, considering the weather. A cold front was moving in off the sea, all the weather reports warning of the winter’s first blizzard. And while her thick sweater was keeping her upper body perfectly warm, her legs were freezing. Eva told herself it would be worth it if she won the game. She had caught Sebastian’s eyes following the lines of her long legs enough times over the past month to know she could easily distract him from the pool table with them. 

Except, her tactic didn’t seem to be working tonight. Eva sighed and leaned back onto her hand. “I’ll move if you tell me what question you want me to answer if you win,” she said. That was tonight’s wager. If Eva won, he had to chop the next batch of firewood. If Sebastian won the game, she had to answer one question, with up to two follow-up questions. He had seemed nervous when he made the bet, something Eva had noted with great interest. Whatever the question he had in mind was, it both unsettled him and gave him unwavering focus. Eva wanted to know what she’d gotten herself into.

Abigail was sprawled across the rec room’s couch, as usual, a basket of cheese sticks on her stomach. “Better question,” she said. “What questions are you afraid he’s gonna ask?”

Sebastian pointed a thumb at Abigail with a smirk. “I like that question better. That’s my question now.”

Eva glared at Abigail. “You’re a traitor,” she hissed.

Abigail only shrugged and shoved a cheese stick in her mouth. “You’re not the one who bought these tonight,” she mumbled around the food.

“You say that like I’m a high-roller for buying them for you,” Sebastian said. He turned his attention back to Eva. “So are you going to move and let me take my shot, or am I going to have to shoot over your legs?” 

Eva glanced down at the table, then narrowed her eyes at Sebastian. “You couldn’t make that shot over my legs.”

“Oh no, you’ve done it now, Eva,” Sam said from the Joja Cola vending machine. He popped the tab open on his third can of the night and leaned against the machine. “You just lost the game. You told Sebastian he couldn’t do something.”

“Game over,” Abigail added from the couch. 

“It’s not possible,” Eva argued with both of them. “The angles are all wrong.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes, then moved towards the table. He bent low, bracing his elbows across her thighs. “Move and mess up my shot,” he said in a low voice, glancing sideways at her, “and you forfeit the game. Because it means you’re cheating.”

“I won’t move a muscle,” Eva promised. She hoped he took his time planning his shot. Her legs were cold and he was warm. Eva could feel his breath on her bare skin as he checked the angles. She tried to suppress the shudder that rippled through her at the feeling. She failed, but not badly enough Sebastian noticed. 

Mayor Lewis’ voice broke through the din of the saloon’s main room. “Everyone, just a moment, please.” Eva and Sebastian both turned to see Lewis clamber up into a chair, his arms held up for quiet. “I just heard the latest weather report. The storm will break sooner than they thought, likely within the next hour or so. I just want to make sure everyone gets home safely before it hits. So, maybe this should be the last call and everyone start heading home. Thank you, and stay warm tonight!” He climbed back down to the floor as the conversations began again. The townsfolk started finishing their meals and drinks, grabbing their coats and scarves. The saloon was quickly emptying as people began heading to their houses.

Sam guzzled his soda and tossed the can into the nearby garbage bin. “Mom will want me home soon, if that’s what’s on the weather.” He grabbed his coat and shrugged into it. “Someone text me what the question is.”

“Like anyone is going to find out,” Eva called after him. “I’ve got this game, easily!”

“Stop talking,” Sebastian grumbled, turning back to finish lining up his shot. “You’re moving.”

“You can’t win this one,” Eva insisted. 

Sebastian looked up and her and grinned that bad boy grin that made Eva’s heart stutter. Then, without looking, he hit the cue ball, jumping one of her balls to knock one, two, three of his into different pockets around the table. The cue ball was still rolling, ricocheting along the edges back towards Eva when he stood, his grin now smug. 

“You haven’t won yet,” Eva said, crossing her arms.

Sebastian held up his hand when she started to slip to the floor. “Wait for it,” he said, pointing to the still moving white ball. It had slowed considerably, but not enough to keep it from knocking Sebastian’s final ball into the pocket at Eva’s hip. Eva blinked at the table for a moment, then swore, loudly. Sebastian and Abigail both burst into laughter. 

Abigail bounced to her feet and clapped Eva on the back. “Well played, Eva,” she said, then bid them both good night. 

Sebastian handed Eva her coat from the pile on the back of the red couch and she pulled it on. She was glad it was long enough to offer some protection to her bare legs. Eva wrapped her infinity scarf around her neck as Sebastian put his coat on, popping the collar up. They walked out together, some of the last people to leave the Stardrop. “All right, out with it,” Eva said, huddling deeper into her coat. A strong wind gusted over Pelican Town and it was absolutely frigid, far colder than it had been when they had left Mistwood Farm. Eva leaned against Sebastian, slipping her arm through his when he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Ask your question.”

He hesitated for a moment. Eva felt the shuddering breath he took, and her heart raced in the face of the unknown. Then, Sebastian asked, “Why does your dad call you ‘Queenie”?”

For some reason, Eva was disappointed that _that_ was his question. She frowned slightly, unable to shake the feeling that he had intended to ask a different question. Still, she answered, “I’m named after the only queen Gotoro had. Queen Evangeline. She was the only imperial monarch that did not start a war during their reign. She did fight one, the Shadow Plague, when shadow monsters rose from the deep places to attack Gotoro. Evangeline was a sorcerer queen and she fought on the battlefield with her troops, using fire magic to beat back the waves of darkness. After the Shadow Plague was over, she spent the rest of her reign raising the standards for living and education in Gotoro, laying the foundation for what the empire is today. My father was born in the same town as she was and grew up with her statue in the center of town. He said he always wanted to name a daughter after her, if he had one.”

Sebastian stopped underneath the last street lamp at the town square’s edge. He turned towards her. “I’m guessing she was hell in heels too?”

Eva laughed. “From the stories, she was.” She looked up at Sebastian, smiling brightly at him. Kiss me. The thought hit her brain, ricocheting through her skull like Sebastian’s last pool shot. For a moment, Eva thought she could see him gathering the courage to say something or actually kiss her. They were standing nearly chest to chest, their breath visible in the cold air in between them. Eva pulled one hand from her coat pocket and reached out to touch his chest, slowly rising onto her toes. _Kiss me, please, kiss me._

The sky chose that moment to open up, pouring a frigid rain down onto their heads. Eva squealed as cold droplets ran down her neck. Sebastian started laughing. “I told you you’d get cold wearing that outfit,” he said over the pouring rain. His hair was already plastered to his forehead from the rain. Eva swatted his arm, then grabbed his hand and took off down the dirt road that led back to Mistwood Farm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for going on this ride with me! I cannot express how much every hit, kudo, and comment brings me joy. I'm incredibly touched that so many of you are enjoying my work. 
> 
> Also, if you cannot tell, I love fantasy books. The books mentioned in this chapter are some of my favorites, and I highly recommend them. The book Sebastian read from is Sarah J. Maas's "A Court of Thorns and Roses".
> 
> This chapter was inspired by the following songs: "Lover" - Taylor Swift (feat. Shawn Mendes); "The Last of the Real Ones" - Fall Out Boy; "Alone Together" - Fall Out Boy.


	9. Chapter 9

Eva wiped the condensation from the mirror. A glance at the mess that was her bun told her she was better off just leaving her hair up for now. It would take her twenty minutes and half a bottle of leave-in conditioner to pick the elastic band from her hair and comb the tangles out. She should never have slept with her hair up. She humphed in annoyance, then smiled to herself, a slight flush spreading over her face as she remembered exactly why she had slept with her hair up. When she and Sebastian had finally burst into the farmhouse the night before, coming back from the Stardrop, they had been soaking wet from the rain. They had sagged against the door, water sluicing off of them to form puddles around their feet. They had burst into breathless laughter at the same moment, for some reason finding the situation funny. Their laughter lasted for a few minutes, until Eva was leaning against the wet front of Sebastian’s coat. When she finally caught her breath, she smiled up at him and Sebastian had wrapped an arm around her, smiling down at her. There had been something in his expression, something Eva was still unable to name. Hopeful anticipation, a cautious longing, an apprehensive unguardedness. In that moment, Sebastian’s typical bad boy confidence was gone, leaving him looking at her in a way that had made her heart flutter somewhere near her stomach. Eva had reached up to push his wet hair out of his face to better see that expression, leaving her hand pressed against his cheek. Sebastian’s arms had tightened around her waist and he had leaned into her hand. His heart had thudded beneath the hand she had pressed against his chest. They had remained like that for a moment longer, Eva’s hand cupping the side of Sebastian’s face. Eva did not know who had closed the distance first. She just knew that one minute she had been smiling up at Sebastian, and the next, she was kissing him, hard, deeply, throwing her arms around his neck to pull him closer while he buried his fingers into her hair and returned the kiss just as intensely. 

Eva closed her eyes and took a deep breath to bring herself back into the present. She reached up and felt around for the bobby pins that were lost somewhere in her auburn locks. The movement revealed a deep purple mark on the side of one breast that she had missed in the shower. Eva stopped searching for the pins in her hair and stared at the bruise in the mirror. It matched the ones on her shoulder and neck. “Good thing it’s scarf season,” she muttered to herself. When she looked back up at her reflection, she saw her face was flushed bright red. Eva quickly bent over the sink to finish removing the previous night’s makeup. She made sure to use cold water when she rinsed her face wash from her skin. She wrapped a robe around herself and tied the sash tightly around her waist before leaving the bathroom. The air in the hallway was frigid compared to the steamy heat of the bathroom after her shower. Eva rubbed her arms as she stepped into the main area of the farmhouse and stared at the mess from the night before.

A trail of still wet clothes lead from the front door to the living room, ending at the thick rug in front of the fireplace. Eva’s dark teal bra was hanging from the edge of one armchair, Naru curled in the seat and using one of the molded cups as a pillow. One of his yellow eyes flicked open when she entered the room, then closed again with a loud purr. Eva’s eyes followed the path from the door to the fireplace, replaying the events of last night in her mind. She and Sebastian had kissed at the front door, quickly becoming tangled in each other’s limbs and wet hair and clothes. Eva had clung to the popped collar of Sebastian’s coat to close any fraction of space between their bodies, rising up on her toes to draw closer. When his mouth had slid from her lips to the pulse point beneath her jaw, she had gasped out loud, arcing into him. The sound had encouraged him to leave the first purple mark on her skin. The moans she had made while he did had led to them shoving each other’s coats off as Sebastian left more marks along her neck. Eva had tugged his hoodie over his head and flung it to the side. Sebastian had responded by unwinding her scarf from around her neck to place kisses along her collarbone. Somehow they had ended up on the living room rug, chilled hands roaming over one another’s naked bodies.

Eva dragged her hands over her face, forcing herself to look away from where she could still see the indents in the rug’s long fibers, left there from digging her fingertips into it when Sebastian had hauled her hips up his thighs for an angle that had left her breathless. A large smile spread across her face. Eva giggled to herself, pressing her fingers against her lips. She twirled in place, still quietly giggling. Then, she added firewood to both fires and started picking up their discarded clothes, cringing slightly when she lifted the cold, wet fabric from the floor. She tossed the clothes that could go into the dryer in for a cycle, the machine humming to life with a low drone. The clothes that could not be thrown into the dryer went on a drying rack Eva set up in front of the wood burning stove in the kitchen. Eva emptied the pockets of Sebastian’s coat and jeans, leaving his pack of cigarettes, lighter, phone, and wallet on the kitchen table for him to collect later. Naru yowled in protest when she reclaimed her bra from him and set it to dry on the rack. The black cat began following her around then, begging loudly for breakfast. “I’ll feed you in a minute,” she stated as she moved her and Sebastian’s boots from the front door to the fireplace to finish drying. Eva sighed to herself when she realized her boots would need some extra attention once they dried, the velvet’s pile smashed flat and no longer soft to the touch. Naru stretched up her legs as she examined the shoes and yowled. “Working on it,” she answered him, gently shoving him down. “Impatient little beast.” 

She filled the cat’s bowl with food and left him smacking happily away in the kitchen. A glance out the windows showed a heavy layer of snow across the farm. There was at least a foot that she would have to trudge through to get to the greenhouse to tend to her seedlings. From the front windows, Eva could not see any damage to the outbuildings or trees, but she knew she would need to walk the property to check. She would also need to make sure her chickens were warm enough in their coop. The wind was still howling as the last of the winter storm blew over Pelican Town and Eva could feel it in the few drafts that slipped through the house. Eva quietly climbed the stairs to her bedroom to get ready for the day, even if she really wanted to go back to bed with a cup of hot chocolate and curl up with a book. 

The sight of Sebastian sound asleep in her bed brought her to a halt at the top of the stairs. He had wordlessly followed her upstairs last night, climbing into her bed with another long kiss, this one far less heated than the first. Eva had fallen asleep with her back pressed against his chest and his cheek resting against her head. Now, she stood and just watched him sleep, a small smile on her face. Sebastian was lying on his stomach, his long limbs sprawling across her bed in multiple directions. His mouth was partially open and his long bangs covered most of his face. When she had gotten up, she had pulled the sheets and comforter down enough to reveal the tattoos that covered his back, shoulders, and arms. Eva had not paid attention to the blackwork designs the night before, but she took in all the intricate details now. His right upper arm featured a side view portrait of a beautiful medusa, her countenance peaceful, surrounded by blooming flowers -- and somewhat sorrowful, Eva thought and wondered if there was a greater meaning to it. She would have to ask Sebastian about it sometime. The opposite shoulder and upper arm had been inked to reveal the bone structure beneath the skin, the design fading into a design that evoked the circuitry inside computers just above Sebastian’s elbow. Eva knew from the night before that the tattoo continued across his left side, following his ribs, and onto his chest, the area above his heart left blank. The skeletal illusion of that piece must have taken multiple sessions to complete. Eva was amazed that Sebastian had been able to sit through that much pain to have it finished. Her eyes moved to the realistic bat wings that covered his back and shoulders. She glanced at the second book in the fantasy series Abigail had pushed onto her and realized exactly why her friend had insisted she read it. Eva looked back at Sebastian. For a moment, she was struck by how out of place he seemed in her bed, the stark contrast of his dark hair and black tattoos and her crisp white sheets and the tiny embroidered flowers of her comforter. But, for some reason, that contrast was why it felt so right to her and made the sight before her feel real. It was too cliche, too perfect, to be anything but real. 

Eva padded softly over to the bed and knelt beside Sebastian. She gently brushed the hair from his face and kissed him on the cheek. Then, she stood and dressed in warm work clothes. With a final smile at the man sleeping in her bed, Eva returned downstairs and went to work. 

***

The sound of the farmhouse’s front door firmly shutting dragged Sebastian awake. He grumbled for a moment at how bright it was. He lifted his head from the pillow just enough to glare at the light streaming in through the window at his side. The sky outside was grey and overcast, but it was still far too bright. Then, Sebastian’s mind shook the sleep off and remembered he did not have a window by his bed in his room at Mistwood Farm. His sheets weren’t white. He certainly didn’t have a heavy, billowy comforter with little colorful flowers on it. 

Sebastian pushed himself up onto his elbows and glanced around in confusion for a minute before he remembered the events of the night before. He was in Eva’s bedroom. He was in Eva’s bed. “Shit,” he muttered, flopping back onto the pillows. He had been planning on asking her out last night. Sebastian had spent the week gathering up the courage to confess his feelings for her, to bare his heart to her. _Will you go out with me?_ That had been the question he had been prepared to ask her when he won their pool game. Maybe even kiss her after, depending on how she had answered. But, he had lost that courage the moment she had smiled up at him beneath the street lamp. Every doubt, every fear that had been holding him back for months had come crashing back over him. “You were supposed to ask her out,” Sebastian grumbled into the pillow. “Not bang her on her living room floor.” Not that he was regretting it, he admitted to himself. A wry smirk spread across his face. The sex had been fantastic. He told himself he’d have to stop teasing Eva about her love of yoga now.

He sighed and sat up, looking out the little dormer window at her bedside. Sebastian saw Eva trudging through the thick snow towards the chicken coop. He watched her until she disappeared around the building’s corner. Sebastian sat back against the headboard, turning his attention to her bedroom. He had never been up in the loft and now took in all the small details. The old wood panelling here had been painted a crisp white, the walls above the chair rail a pale green. There were little string lights swagged along the sheer curtains at the loft’s edge, more lights hanging over the bed that was tucked beneath the sloping roofline. Sebastian’s head nearly touched the ceiling and he slid away from the wall he had slept against. There were houseplants around the room, just like downstairs. A pair of orchids sat in the window, multiple books with bookmarks in between their pages stacked beside the colorful pots. Another plant sat beneath the lamp on the nightstand. The dresser opposite the bed had a large collection of candles grouped around an antique jewelry box and a large earring organizer. The shelf standing beside it was cluttered with various perfume bottles. A basket overflowing with blankets filled the bottom of the shelf. A glance over the low headboard found the open racks that served as Eva’s closet, the clothes clearly organized with Eva’s many shoes neatly lined up underneath. A small dressing table sat beneath the round window at the house’s end. Sebastian spotted a small writing desk tucked into the second dormer window across from her clothes. Everything was neat, tidy, and bore Eva’s attention to details. The space felt like Eva -- warm, cozy, inviting, comfortable, safe. 

Sebastian flung the covers off of him and stood, making his way downstairs. It was warm. Eva had obviously fed the fires before she had left the farmhouse. The dryer was running and he assumed their clothes from the night before were tumbling inside, since the floor was clear. Sebastian grabbed his things from the kitchen table, smiling to himself that Eva had carefully emptied his pockets. His lighter was missing, though. Sebastian just half shrugged, thinking he would look for it later, and walked to his room. He was just glad Eva was outside working. Making that walk ass naked would have been embarrassing. 

When he entered his room, he found Naru on his still made bed, batting his lighter around on the black comforter. Sebastian snatched it away from the cat, earning himself a playful swat from the little demon as Naru bolted from the room. Sebastian closed the door behind the cat, then got dressed for the day and sat down at his computer to work. His current contract was not due for a month, but it was a larger project and he could charge a higher fee if he worked on weekends. Plus, Sebastian wanted to distract himself from all the feelings coursing through him. So, he turned on some music, turned up the volume, and lost himself in the code on his screen. He only stopped once during the morning to grab coffee, then again when lunchtime rolled around. Sebastian carried his lunch into his room, closing the door once more, and ate at his desk. Eva had not returned to the farmhouse since he had woken up. He wondered what she was doing, especially with it as cold as it was outside. There were no crops to tend to, at least not in the fields. Sebastian guessed she might be working in her new greenhouse. But tending to her seedlings would not take hours. He slid his plate onto his desk with a huff. Was she avoiding him after what had happened? Had she not enjoyed it like he had? Sebastian scrubbed his hands over his face, hard, before putting his fingers back to the keyboard. 

It was evening before he heard Eva come back inside. Sebastian heard her stomp the snow from her boots, then kick them off. She was humming to herself, sounding happy. Some of Sebastian’s worries and fears faded at the cheerful sound. He glanced at the clock. It was late. Late enough he could hear Naru meowing wildly for Eva to feed him. He had worked through dinner, and Eva had too, apparently. The doubts that had faded at the sound of her humming came rushing back. Sebastian knew Eva worked when she was upset. Was she upset now? Sebastian forced himself back to his work. He knew he was being stupid. He had slept with her, okay. Fine. Talking to her should be easy after that. Talking to Eva had always been easy. The fact that it had suddenly become difficult frustrated Sebastian. _I’ve already screwed it up_ , he thought to himself. His phone buzzed on the desk. Sebastian picked it up, finding a new message from Eva. 

_Sorry for missing dinner. I was cutting more firewood. Did you eat?_

He left the message on _read_ and kept working. A half hour later, his phone buzzed again. He glanced at the message preview.

_I enjoyed last night._

Sebastian read it once, twice, and a third time, blinking at the screen. Then, he rolled his chair back so he could look through the narrow window by the door. He had lifted the shade earlier in the week to pull Naru out from behind it and hadn’t bothered to pull it back down. He could see Eva in the living room, sitting in the overstuffed armchair. She had changed out of her work clothes into leggings and a loose sweater, fuzzy socks rising to her knees. Her hair was down, hanging in waves and still wet on the ends. She must have taken a shower. A book was laying across her legs and a mug of tea sat on the table at her elbow. Beside the mug was an empty bowl, the inner rim stained with the spices from Eva’s chili. Eva was holding her phone in both hands, tapping her fingernails against its case and biting her bottom lip. Sebastian could tell she was nervous, waiting for his reply. One foot was bouncing up and down from where it hung over one of the chair’s arms. Eva would not have been able to see him through the window, not with the glare from the fireplace on the glass. He caught her glancing at his closed door once, then again, before she set her phone down and picked up her book. The glow from the fireplace showed the marks he had left on her neck. A pang of guilt rippled through Sebastian at the sight of the bruises. He looked down at his phone, unlocked it, and typed out a reply. 

_I’m glad. So did I.  
I didn’t hurt you, did I?_

He heard her phone chime and looked up to watch her read his message. A smile bloomed across her face and Eva returned the bookmark to its place and set the book aside. She sent back _No. At least, not in a way I didn’t thoroughly enjoy._

Sebastian leaned his head against the back of his chair and took a deep breath when he read her reply. He could almost hear her accent tugging on the words of her reply in his head, in a teasing, playful tone. He typed _Good. Because if I had, I would need to offer to make it up to you_ and sent it before he lost the sudden burst of confidence he was not sure he fully felt. He pulled himself back to his desk, even though he knew there was little hope of him working now. 

The sound of floorboards creaking made him look towards the door. It opened and Eva stepped inside, gently closing it behind her. “You didn’t,” she said softly. “Please don’t worry that you did.”

Sebastian turned his chair to face her. “Okay,” was all he said in answer. “I won’t.”

Eva nodded, her eyes falling to the floor. “Good,” she muttered. After a moment’s silence, she asked, “How would you have made it up to me if you had?” Her voice was still soft, but there was a hint of suggestion in it. But it wasn’t the same kind of suggestion Sebastian had become used to hearing in her voice. It was as if she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Like that feeling was as frightening to her as it was to him. She sounded like just Eva, not the Eva who had made the corporate world tremble before her or the Eva that stretched just so to distract him from a shot in pool. The sound was more raw, vulnerable, hopeful, than sultry. It sounded the same as the little voice in the back of his head, the one whispering, _I want to love you, Eva. Could you love me?_

He was quiet for a minute before he answered. He just looked up at her, almost in wonder. She was still here. She wasn’t running away. In that moment, Sebastian thought that maybe -- just maybe -- he could trust himself with her, could open up to her. “I would kiss away the hurt I caused, take my time, make sure you knew just how beautiful you are,” he breathed, sounding far more sure of himself than he felt. _Like I should have done in the first place_ , he added in his head. 

A small smirk appeared on her lips. “Then, maybe I want to change my answer,” Eva said, taking a step towards him. “Because… that sounds very nice.”

Sebastian stood. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. Eva slid her hands over his chest, and when she looked up at him and their eyes met, Sebastian knew. Yoba, he knew he loved her. He bent to kiss her, and this time, he forced himself to slow down, draw the pace out, to not rush it like he had the night before. He pressed gently kisses against the marks he had left on her neck and she melted against him. Sebastian lifted her from the floor and carried her the short distance to the bed, where he took his time loving every inch of her. Afterwards, Eva tucked herself against his side and he wrapped his arms around her, rolling over to face her. He brushed her hair from her face and pressed a kiss against her forehead. Eva grinned at him, then nuzzled her face against his bare chest and remained there. Sebastian closed his eyes, soaking in the feeling of her so close. He absentmindedly combed his fingers through her hair. He thought Eva had gone to sleep until she lifted a hand to trace the medusa tattoo on his arm. “Why a medusa?” she asked in a quiet voice. 

“Maybe I like fierce women,” Sebastian answered, planting another kiss on her head. “I imagine she was hell in heels, too.”

“She couldn’t wear shoes,” Eva stated flatly, earning a snort from Sebastian. 

“You know what I mean.”

Eva’s hand trailed to the tattoo covering his chest. She tapped the blank spot above his heart. “What’s going here?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t found anything important enough to me to go there.” Sebastian said. She pulled her head back enough to look him in the face, a questioning expression on her face. Sebastian only half shrugged. “Maybe nothing.”

“Nothing would imply you have no heart,” Eva stated. “That you care about nothing.”

“Some people would say that’s true.”

Eva shook her head slightly. “They would be wrong,” she muttered. She yawned, then, and Sebastian could feel her stretch all the way to the toes she had hooked over his calf. She tucked her face against his chest again, pressing a kiss in the center of the blank spot over his heart. Sebastian was still awake when she fell asleep and started snuffling quiet little snores. He hid his smile at the sounds in her hair. “Good night, Eva,” he whispered, already imagining the crown design that he now wanted to fill the space over his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abigail's fantasy series, book two, is Sarah J. Maas's "A Court of Mist and Fury".


	10. Chapter 10

> There’s nothing good about goodnight when it means goodbye.  
> Jeff Thomas

Her hands were numb. Eva fumbled with her pickaxe for the third time in five minutes, finally dropping it with an aggravated huff. Her breath hung on the cold air in a thick cloud. Eva clenched and unclenched her fingers, the leather of her work gloves creaking with the motion. The cave around her echoed with the dying sound of her pickaxe ringing against the stone floor. Eva rolled her wrists, trying anything to shake the lingering numbing vibration from the pickaxe hitting rock again and again from her hands. When she tried to straighten her back, the muscles there screamed in protest. She had been digging in the old mountain mines for most of the days. Eva had arrived at the mines at six in the morning, like she had for the past three weeks. She had thought she had grown used to hard labor after three seasons of working on a farm. Clearly, she had thought wrong. Her entire body hurt, from too many hours of too much work in air far too cold.

Eva wanted nothing more than to go home. She peeled back one glove to glance at her watch. It was a quarter ‘til 7pm. She should be going back to Mistwood Farm. The idea of going back to the warm farmhouse, eating the dinner Sebastian would start cooking soon, and then going to bed with him at her side was enough to make Eva realize just how exhausted she was. She looked around the cave and sighed. “What am I doing?” she whispered to herself. The cave asked the question back to her, echoing eerily around her. Eva rubbed her eyes with the back of one hand. She had been searching the mines for an elven or dwarven artifact every day for three weeks, and she had yet to find one, or anything suggesting she ever would. She had contacted the Association of Antiquities months ago about Joja Corp’s drilling operation. She had provided a few selected excerpts from the emails she and Sebastian had taken from Morris’ office. 

And, yet, the AOA, when she had finally gotten through to someone on one of her followup calls, had stated it needed more evidence. Evidence that Joja Corp was, in fact, illegally collecting artifacts, or that Pelican Town was a region of archaeological interest and needed to be deemed a protected area. With the presence of Greyford mercenaries at the drilling site, Eva had been unable to get close enough to get any pictures as proof. She had tried. Though, she admitted to herself, she had not tried very hard. Seeing the mercenaries walking around with automatic weapons had curbed any daringness she had felt. So, without further evidence against Joja, Eva was left with only one option: find an artifact. 

So far, she had found nothing beyond a few minor trinkets and oddities. Nothing that would compel the Association of Antiquities to declare Stardew Valley as an historically protected region. 

_Maybe Sebastian is right_ , Eva thought to herself. He had voiced his concerns about her plans the week before, while cleaning the large gash on her leg she had earned by tripping in the dark caverns. “This is crazy, Eva,” he had said as he cleaned the wound and she hissed in pain. “Those mines are dangerous. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“I can take care of myself,” Eva had answered through clenched teeth. 

Sebastian had only given her a hard stare and asked, “Then why do I have your blood on my hands?” While his gaze had been hard, Eva had not missed the tremor in his voice. She had seen the worry on his face every morning after that. That morning, it had been worse when he looked at her, still laying in her bed. “Be careful,” was all he had said. For some reason, that had bothered Eva more than if he had demanded she not go into the mines. That she could have handled. She could have argued, refused to listen, reminded him she did not answer to him. Eva could have reminded him what was at stake. If Joja Corp expanded their operation and built the warehouse where the old community center stood, and the wrong artifacts were stored there, all of Pelican Town could be destroyed in the resulting arcane accident. But, Eva realized the concern on his face was something she did not know how to deal with. Part of her knew, if she was honest with herself, that she would discover she was terrified of the emotions behind that concern. 

That was why she was in the mines again. Eva did not want to be honest with herself, did not want to examine the turmoil whirling around inside of her. The war between the Ferngill Republic and Gotoro Empire was over. The official cease-fire order from both sides had come two weeks earlier. The armies had been recalled. All that was left was the diplomatic talks and posturing of the nations’ leaders, still scheduled for Winter’s Star. Eva had already begun filing out her visa application. After so many years of being stranded in Ferngill, Eva was on the verge of going back home. And, yet, it felt wrong. It was what she had wanted more than anything for years. This was the moment she had been waiting for, the moment she had believed would signal the true start to her adult life. Now that it was here, Eva was suddenly hesitant to take it. Her heart wasn’t celebrating like she had thought it would. Gotoro didn’t feel like home to her anymore. Eva felt more lost than she had back in the spring.

She looked around the cavern. “What am I doing?” she whispered again, the question sinking deeper into her with every echoing repetition. For a moment, Eva hugged herself tightly, pressing her arms against her sides as if she could hold herself together if she held on tightly enough. Then, she snatched her pickaxe from the ground and slid it into the strap on her backpack. She scowled to herself and set her feet in motion. _Just one more hour_ , Eva told herself.  
It grew impossibly colder as she walked deeper into the abandoned mines. Eva stuffed her hands beneath her arms as she walked, trying not to shiver as the chill rolled over her. 

A loud rumble suddenly shook the ground beneath her. Eva stopped, her heart pounding as dirt and pebbles rained down on her head from above. She flattened herself against the wall, throwing her arms over her head. As quickly as the noise had begun, it stopped. Shouts rang out over the echoing. Eva reached up to click her headlamp off, then stood in the darkness for a minute to let her eyes adjust. In the gloom she could see faint light spilling out from an adjoining tunnel farther ahead. Eva slowly made her way to it, keeping her steps as quiet as possible. When she peeked around the corner, the breath in her lungs escaped in a loud gasp. 

The rough stone walls of the mines gave way to blue stone blocks that glittered even in the dim light. The light came from glowing crystals of blue and green growing along the ceiling. What Eva had expected to be another mining shaft was actually a man-made hallway. Then, Eva spotted the flowing script chiselled into the blocks of the wall and gasped again. “It’s elven,” she breathed. She reached out to touch the inscription, but caught herself just before her fingertips touched the stone. The writing could have very well been some kind of defensive spell and Eva knew she did not want to trigger any unknown magics. Or, it could simply be writing that a single touch could destroy. Eva dug her phone from an inside pocket of her coat, ripping her gloves from her hands when she fumbled to unlock it. She began taking pictures -- of the hallway, the crystals that seemed as if they functioned like light fixtures, coming in regular intervals along the corridor, the bricks and their inscriptions. Eva gaped at the hallway for a long while, not believing her luck. “This is an elven fortress,” she whispered to herself. It was the kind of discovery she had dreamed of when she had been a child reading books of legends and myths. It was the kind of discovery that could rewrite history. It was the very discovery she needed to force the AOA to act. 

Eva would have started squealing in joy and amazement had not another round of shouts had echoed down the hallway from somewhere farther ahead. She shoved any thoughts of the archaeological ramifications of what she had just stumbled across to the back of her mind and crept along the wall, careful not to brush up against it. The hallway opened up into a large vaulted room, far larger than a football field. Pillars of the same blue stone rose to support the ceiling that was covered in glittering mosaics. Eva wanted to stare up at the scenes the mosaic tiles depicted, but the large drilling machine in the center of the room and the men milling around it and the hole beneath it demanded her attention. She recognized the Greyford uniform on two of the men standing to either side. Their automatic weapons would have been enough for her to know they were Greyford soldiers. A few other people were filling shiny blue cases marked with the Joja Corp logo. With what, Eva could not see from where she stood. Eva snapped a few pictures of the scene before daring to dart forward, crouching behind one of the pillars. She moved up the large room to get closer, hopping from one pillar’s shadow to the next.

“Okay, let’s call that a day and be done with it.” Eva knew Mac’s voice without even seeing him. She glanced around the pillar’s edge and found him standing at the edge of the hole, wearing a Joja blue parka over his suit. As Eva watched, she saw several elven items be packed away into the blue cases, Mac watching over it all with a self-satisfied smirk plastered across his face. Her breath caught when she saw an elven diadem be shoved into one case. “Careful,” Mac snapped at the man trying to force the case shut on the artifact. “That may look like a pretty bauble, but it could kill us all. Leave it. I’ll take it up with me.” Eva slowly lifted her phone and took another series of pictures. She slammed herself back against the pillar when Mac’s head turned towards her. Eva held her breath and strained to keep still. _Yoba, please don’t let him have seen me._ “Good job today, everyone,” Mac called. “Let’s go topside.” Eva listened to the shuffle of equipment and feet, then heard the loud rumble and grind of a metal lift rise somewhere on the opposite side of the room. The room fell silent a few minutes later. Eva remained where she was, slowly releasing the breath she had been holding. She took a couple of deep breaths to slow her racing heart, then pushed away from the pillar. 

Mac was standing on the other side. Eva yelped when he grabbed her and flung her to the ground. Her phone fell to the ground at Mac’s feet. Eva scrambled to sit up and kick herself away from the man standing in front of her, clicking his tongue. “Eva, Eva, Eva,” Mac said, shaking his head. “This strange phenomenon happens when you breathe into cold air. It forms a cloud that can give you away.” He chuckled. “I thought you would have known that, as smart as you think you are.”

In that moment, Eva could see the glint in Mac’s eyes. She remembered what Sebastian had said about the man, months before. _A harmless man wouldn’t have looked at you like he did. Promise me, if you end up alone with Mac, don’t… Promise me you’ll run._ “At least I’m smart enough to know that messing with artifacts is a very stupid idea,” Eva said. She was surprised by just how calm her voice sounded, considering she could hear little above her heart pounding in her ears. “You could blow a crater several miles wide into the valley.”

Mac scoffed at her and stepped forward, stomping a heel down on her phone. Eva flinched at the loud crunch. “Ah, so you _were_ taking pictures,” Mac said, a smile rippling across his face. “Of course you were. You wanted to be an archaeologist, right? Life really is a bitch, isn’t it?”

Eva glanced over her shoulder, searching for an exit, some way to escape. _Promise me you’ll run._ “I was just looking for ore in the old mines, Mac,” Eva said, trying to plan how to get past the man to the hallway she had used to enter. She just had to keep Mac focused on her, on gloating, on believing she was afraid of him. That last one shouldn’t be difficult. Eva found she really was afraid in that moment. “I didn’t come here to spy on you or Joja. I just need new tools and I can’t afford to pay the full price.”

Mac just started laughing. “Is that so?” he said, and Eva had the sinking feeling he did not believe her. She pushed herself farther backwards, wanting to put more distance between them. Mac’s laughter died and his smile slid from his face. “You know, Eva, Morris thinks you’re harmless now. Thinks he pulled your teeth out when he got you fired.”

“But you know better?” Eva said, swallowing hard. 

“I do,” Mac answered, taking another step closer. “See, I know if you want to make sure a bitch doesn’t bite you…” He trailed off, taking another step. His face was cold and hard as he looked down at her. He lunged for her. Eva screamed, trying to scramble to her feet, trying to avoid his reaching hands. Her boots refused to find traction on the smooth stone floor. Mac dropped on top of her and locked his hands around her neck. Eva clawed at his wrists and arms as he forced her head backwards, slamming it into the floor once, twice. He squeezed and Eva couldn’t breathe. Mac leaned close to her face and growled, “You put the bitch down.” Eva’s vision began to grow black around the edges. She gasped in vain while her brain froze in panic. Everything her father had taught her about self-defense had fled from her mind and Eva just lay pinned beneath Mac, flailing.

Then, Eva’s mind snapped back into focus. 

Eva slammed a knee into Mac’s groin, once, then again. The man crumpled with a yell and the viselike grip he had had on her neck loosened. Eva drove the heel of her palm into his jaw and sent him tumbling to the side. She scrambled to her feet, snatching her broken phone from the floor, and ran. Eva barely had the presence of mind to turn her headlamp back on as she fled into the abandoned mineshafts and left the magical light of the elven ruins behind. Her throat burned as she gulped in air and she coughed hard enough to nearly double her over. Still, she kept running. 

The cold winter air hit her aching throat when she burst out of the mines. Eva’s boots slid on the snow covering the ground and she fell, hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs. She lay in the snow, gasping. Her chest was still seizing when she pushed herself back to her feet and tried to run. Eva only stumbled instead, but kept moving. Mac could be right behind her and if he caught up to her now, she would not be able to scream and hope someone at the Kael-Lautrec house would hear her. Eva forced herself to start running the moment her lungs began working again. She did not stop running when she reached the mountain path leading back to Mistwood Farm. She did not stop running when the battery in her headlamp died, plunging her into darkness. Eva yelped when her next step met nothing but air. She tumbled down the stone steps carved into the hillside at the back of the farm, landing in a painful heap at the bottom. The orange squares of light spilling from the farmhouse windows just ahead had her crawling through the snow for a few feet, then Eva was back on her feet, staggering and stumbling in a drunken run for the front door. Eva burst inside, slamming the door behind her. She rammed the deadbolt home. It was the first time she had locked her door in the year she had lived there. Eva leaned against the door and dragged in deep gulps of air.

Sebastian was in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand, stirring a pot of soup on the stove. He turned when she came inside. Eva heard his mug drop to the floor and shatter. “Eva,” he said, abandoning the pot and rushing around the kitchen table towards her. “Are you okay? What happened to you?”

Eva nodded even as her legs gave out and she dropped to the floor. “I’m fine,” she wheezed. Eva could not look at him as he hurried closer. She did not want to see the concern on his face. She could already feel herself begin to shake. Be strong. Eva held up her shattered phone, hating how badly her hand shook. She had not realized her knuckles and palms were bleeding until she looked down at her phone she held. “Can you recover pictures off of this?” she asked in a ragged voice.

“Pictures?” Sebastian asked, shaking his head. “Eva, you’re bleeding.” He fell to his knees in front of her, pulling her phone from her hand and looking at the wounds covering it. Eva tried to answer and failed. She began coughing and reached up to rub her neck. Sebastian’s eyes followed the motion and he froze. “Who choked you?” he asked quietly, staring at her neck.

“You were right,” Eva said. “About Mac.”

Rage flickered across Sebastian’s face. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “You’re going to the clinic. Now,” Sebastian said, standing and pulling Eva’s truck keys from the hook beside the door. 

“I’m fine,” Eva said, trying to stand as well. Her legs wobbled beneath her and the room spun. Sebastian caught her before she toppled over. “I need those pictures,” Eva said stubbornly. “I have proof. I can stop Morris and Mac. I could destroy Joja Corp. I just need to sit down for a bit.”

She felt Sebastian’s fingers prod the back of her head and her stomach jerked sickeningly. When he pulled his hand away, Eva saw his fingers were covered with blood. “Mac tried to kill you,” Sebastian replied. “The pictures can wait.”

Eva shook her head, instantly regretting it. “Sebastian--”

He leaned down to look her in the eyes. “I’m not recovering anything off your phone until Dr. Harvey has looked at you. Okay?” He did not wait for her to answer. Sebastian only unlocked the door and jerked it open. With a couple of tugs, he pulled her backpack from her shoulders and left it on the floor. He lifted her from her feet and Eva let herself go limp in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clinging to the fabric of his favorite hoodie. I’m getting dirt and blood on it was all she could think of as he carried her to the truck. Sebastian set her inside the cab, buckling her in and starting the engine. He muttered something about turning off the stove, then disappeared back inside the house for a minute. Eva winced when he slammed the driver door closed, the sound rattling painfully around her skull. It felt like someone had struck her with a baseball bat. Eva sagged against the door as Sebastian drove into town. The window’s cold glass was the only thing keeping her eyes from sliding fully closed. The chill soothed the ache in her jaw she did not know how she had earned and kept her grounded. Her seat belt was the only thing that kept her from falling out of the truck when Sebastian opened her door. Eva pushed him away when he tried to carry her to the clinic door. “I can walk,” she muttered. The stumbling step she took afterwards was certainly not convincing. Sebastian caught her elbow and wrapped an arm around her waist to support her. Eva’s head throbbed when he pounded on the clinic’s door. 

It was a couple of minutes before Dr. Harvey opened the door. The doctor’s eyes grew wide when he saw Eva. “Oh my,” he muttered, pushing the door open wide and standing aside to let Sebastian help her inside. Once he had shut the door behind them, Dr. Harvey helped Sebastian carry her into the room in the back and onto an exam table. “Now, let’s see what happened to you, Miss Lang,” the doctor said, grabbing his stool and rolling up to her. He glanced over his shoulder at Sebastian. “You can wait in the waiting room, Sebastian.”

“I’m not leaving her,” Sebastian replied forcefully, crossing his arms. 

The doctor gave him a flat look. “If you want me to help her, you will. Patient privacy.” Sebastian scowled, but left the room, his footsteps heavy as he walked away. Dr. Harvey turned back to Eva and gently lifted her chin to look at her neck. “You look like you’ve seen some adventure this evening, Miss Lang. Want to tell me what happened?” he asked, gently checking her neck and the back of her head with probing fingertips. Then, he rose from his stool and began gathering what he needed to tend to her wounds. 

Eva half shrugged. “I got careless in the mines,” she said as the doctor began cleaning the blood from the back of her head. 

Dr. Harvey hummed in response. “The mines are very dangerous. Especially with private soldiers around.” Eva’s head snapped up, the room spinning when she did. The doctor just nodded once, then gently tipped her head back down towards her chest so he could keep working. “I served in the military, myself. It’s how I got my medical license. I wanted to be a pilot, but I did not meet the requirements. I did have the unfortunate privilege of working with a few mercenary groups during my service, though. So, I know how to spot them when I see them, say, when they are driving their convoys back and forth on the highway.” He finished with the wound on her head and sat back down on his stool. “You’re lucky, Miss Lang. You won’t need staples in your head today.” He lifted her hands and began inspecting them. “It doesn’t look like you’ll need staples or stitches at all.” He began bandaging her hands. When he was finished, Dr. Harvey looked up at her with a gentle expression. “What do you need me to do, Miss Lang?”

Eva felt tears begin filling her eyes. “I just want to go home,” she whispered. Eva wrapped her arms around herself. Be strong, she reminded herself.

Dr. Harvey nodded once. “I’ll make a full record of your injuries and leave it in your file. If you want to make a report to the authorities, it will be there.” The doctor stood and pushed his stool out of the way. “You will have a sore throat. Expect your neck and head to swell. A bump on the back of your head is expected. It’s better to swell outward than inward. Keep your cuts clean and dry while they heal. You do have a concussion, however lucky you were this evening. Any nausea, vomiting, or loss of consciousness and you come back to see me. Immediately.” Dr. Harvey took a breath and looked at her. “Do take it easy, Miss Lang. That is an order.”

Eva tried to nod in response as she slid off the exam table, but gave up the moment the movement made her head hurt more. “Thank you,” she muttered. Eva waved away the doctor’s motion to help her. “I’m fine. I’ve got it.”

“Take care, Miss Lang,” Dr. Harvey called after her as she walked slowly along the wall to the front of the clinic. 

As soon as the door to the waiting room swung open, Sebastian jumped to his feet. He was at her side in an instant, an arm sliding around her waist. “You okay?” he asked quietly. 

Eva hummed in answer as they returned to her truck, answering his questions in clipped answers. She pressed her forehead to the cold window once more as Sebastian drove back to Mistwood Farm, closing her eyes. She could feel tears welling up behind her eyelids and she refused to let them spill. Eva’s stomach lurched once and she swallowed hard. _Be strong._ She was the daughter of a Gotoran imperial officer. She knew how to fight. She knew how to take care of herself. She should have never let Mac get his hands around her neck. Eva hated herself for freezing the moment Mac’s hands started squeezing. _He didn’t even choke me correctly. He should have cut off the blood flow, not the air flow._ She should have been able to get away. She should not have been so afraid. _I’m better than this,_ Eva told herself. All the terror, all the panic she had felt and all the pain she currently felt roiled inside her, mixing with shame. Eva saw the maelstrom it was quickly churning into. She clamped down on it all, hard. Eva only left the anger she was feeling, at herself and at Mac -- and Joja, by extension.

That anger was all she was focusing on when Sebastian parked her truck beside the farmhouse and came to open her door. Eva had the door open before he had rounded the front of the truck. Her legs were still weak, but she forced herself to stand up straight, her head held high. She did not wait for Sebastian to help her up the porch steps. Her anger kept her moving, even when her body began screaming in protest, begging her to slow down, stop, rest. Eva shoved her way into the house, stooping to retrieve her broken phone from the floor where Sebastian had left it.

Sebastian came inside and closed the door quietly behind him. “Do you need me to help you upstairs?” he asked. “Or changing clothes? Dr. Harvey told you to rest. I can bring you something to eat, if you want.” 

“I’m fine,” Eva said. Her voice was far harder and clipped than she had meant it to be. The anger she was feeding to keep her upright was bleeding over into places she did not want it to be. Eva knew it. She felt it. Underneath that fury, her heart was breaking. Underneath it all, Eva could feel herself breaking. Her hands started trembling and Eva clenched her fingers around her phone harder. “I’m fine,” she repeated, her voice even harder this time, as she began to climb the stairs. 

Sebastian muttered, “Okay,” then said he would clean up his broken coffee mug before coming to check on her. Eva ignored him. She pushed through the curtains along the loft’s edge and stormed her way to her desk. Eva listened to Sebastian sweeping up the shards of his mug downstairs as she ripped her phone from its case. _I don’t need help_ , she told herself, pulling the SD card from the remains of her phone. Eva put the card into her laptop and opened the files, finding the pictures she had taken in the mines there and uncorrupted. For a moment, Eva clicked through them, staring at the images in relief. She had the proof she needed. 

Eva had just started attaching the files to an email addressed to the Association of Antiquities when Sebastian appeared at the top of the stairs. “You should be resting,” he stated. 

“I need to get these pictures to the AOA,” Eva answered, not looking away from the screen. 

“That can wait.”

Eva scoffed. “No, it can’t. Morris and Mac won’t stop unless someone makes them.” She began typing the body of the email, still not looking his way.

“They’re not the only ones,” Sebastian said. His tone pulled Eva’s eyes from her laptop. He was standing near her bed with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re determined to be the person to bring them down. You want revenge.”

“I want Pelican Town to be safe,” Eva snapped. “This stopped being about revenge the moment I saw those warehouse plans.”

“Yeah, really? Then call the police,” Sebastian said. “Step back and let someone else handle it.”

Eva shook her head, ignoring how it wanted to set the room spinning when she did. She looked back at her laptop. “I’ve had enough dealings with Mac and Morris and Joja and governments to no longer believe anything would be done, if I did.” 

Sebastian yelled, “He tried to kill you!” Her eyes snapped back to him. Eva gaped at him, for a moment, stunned. Sebastian ran his hands through his hair, his mouth moving wordlessly. When he finally spoke again, his voice was quiet again, a broken edge creeping into it. “You could have died, Eva. And I…” He fell silent again, looking away from her and blinking down at the floor. The expression on his face, the raw emotion she saw there, shattered the wall she had placed around the feelings she had tamped down. All the panic, pain, shame, fear, everything, came rushing back out, sweeping over the flames of her anger, when she saw the fear on Sebastian’s face. The fear of losing her. _When… when did he start looking at me like that? Like… like he loves--_ Suddenly, Eva felt just as weak and vulnerable as she had when Mac was on top of her. 

And she responded like she always did when she felt vulnerable, when she felt too exposed. Eva straightened her back and smoothed her face, forcing any expression from it. Inside, she shoved everything, every feeling, every worry, every doubt -- even her anger -- away. “Yes,” she said coldly. “Mac tried to kill me. And he failed. I’m fine.”

“Like hell you are,” Sebastian muttered. “Eva, you are so fucking far from fine.”

Eva turned away in a dismissive motion and returned to the email she had been writing. With a humorless laugh, she said, “Because you know me so well.”

The floorboards creaked as Sebastian walked towards her. “I know you better than you think I do,” he answered. “Eva--”

“Why? Because we’re… what, exactly?” Eva snapped, cutting him off. “Is that how you know me so well?” Part of her brain stuttered, trying to stop her mouth from moving and failing. “Because we’re casually sleeping together?” She scoffed. “You don’t know me. And I don’t need your pity. I don’t need you to save me. I don’t need you. I’m fine.”

Sebastian stood next to the bed in silence for a long moment. Then, he stuffed his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. “Wow. Okay,” he breathed. He turned and walked back to the stairs. Eva saw the hunch in his shoulders out of the corner of her eye as she typed. The sight sent a pang of guilt through her heart. Eva took a deep breath, pulling her hands from the keyboard, and turned in her chair. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, to apologize, Sebastian paused at the top of the stairs. He did not turn back when he said, “And I never thought you needed me. I had just hoped…” Sebastian sighed, then stepped through the curtains. “Good night, Eva.”

With that, he disappeared down the stairs. A minute later, Eva heard the door to his room close. Eva turned back to the laptop and reached out to finish the email. The screen grew blurry as she looked at it, struggling to control the trembling in her hands long enough to finalize the draft and click _send. When she had sent it, Eva pulled her hands up against her face and roughly rubbed her eyes, trying to press the tears back. She stood and began to undress, discovering just how bruised_ and stiff her body was. Her vision blurred when she climbed into bed and realized how empty it felt without Sebastian laying against the wall. Eva could not hold back the tears any longer. _What am I doing? I should never have gone to the mines. Sebastian was right. I should be stronger than this. Be strong, be strong, be strong._ A sob escaped from Eva’s chest and she buried her face into her pillow. It smelled like Sebastian. _What have I done? Be strong. I can fix this._ Eva curled in on herself, crushing her pillow against her chest and face as she began sobbing in earnest. _How can I fix anything? I don’t even know who I am anymore._

Eva cried until she was gasping so hard she nearly retched, all the while hoping Sebastian would come upstairs. _I do need you_ , she kept thinking, as if her unspoken words would reach him, draw him up to hold her, comfort her, give her the chance to apologize. 

Sebastian’s door remained closed.


	11. Chapter 11

> Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.  
> Henry David Thoreau

The silence beyond his door was deafening and heavy.

Sebastian huffed out a sigh and scrubbed his face, hard. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes until he saw blooms of color beneath his eyelids. Four days. It had been four days since Eva had come bursting into the farmhouse, red welts and deep bruises already forming around her neck. Four days since she had snapped at him from her desk. Because we’re casually sleeping together? I don’t need you. Her voice had been hoarse and raw when she had spoken. The words had been quiet, but they still echoed in Sebastian’s mind. He would have preferred if she had slapped him. Sebastian had remained in his room at Mistwood Farm since then, hardly leaving except to shower, use the bathroom, or grab coffee and food from the kitchen. With a fresh layer of snow laying heavy on the land outside, the sudden muffled quiet made the house seem as if it was abandoned once again. The only sign that Eva was still in the house was the occasional creak of a floorboard. Not that he had even heard her downstairs much. Eva had stayed upstairs in her loft. From the silence beyond his door, she had spent the past few days mostly in bed. Sebastian had hoped she would come to his door to talk, to apologize -- he would have been thrilled if Eva had come to yell at him by the third day -- but she didn’t. She never bothered him.

So, Sebastian kept working, the silence hanging heavier on his shoulders with each passing hour, until today. He now gave up on work, having made the same mistake for the fifth time in a row. He glanced at the time. It was nearly six in the evening. Dinner time. Sebastian pushed himself away from his desk and flopped across his bed and stayed there with an arm over his eyes, listening to the small noises of Eva coming down the stairs. He thought about opening his door, going to the kitchen, and eating dinner with her, like they had been doing for months. Sebastian had just begun to rise when he heard the stairs creak. He pushed the shade from the small window at the foot of his bed, catching a glimpse of Eva as she disappeared back upstairs, a bowl of cereal in her hands. Sebastian let himself fall back onto the bed and remained there, the silence pressing down on his chest, until he heard the bowl clink into the sink and Eva returning to bed hours later. 

The quiet was even worse at night. 

Sebastian finally rose from the bed, two hours after Eva had gone back upstairs, and opened his door. All the lights were off throughout the house, the only illumination coming from the living room's fireplace and the kitchen's wood burning stove. Outside, the winter wind howled around the house's corners, moaning and groaning as if in grief or pain. Sebastian quietly crossed to the kitchen, poured himself a cup of coffee, and returned to his room. He set his mug on his desk, then reached for the door to close it. Sebastian paused and listened to the wind. He stood with his arm stretched out, hand gripping the edge of the door, for several minutes. The wind sounded as miserable as he felt. Sebastian glanced up at the darkened loft, words to a new song coming into his mind. Then, he began unplugging his keyboard from its place behind the couch and moved it into his bedroom. He sat down at the keyboard, plugged in headphones, and began to put notes to the words.

***

_Who are you?  
You’re looking like a stranger  
You were once my love and my savior  
Now I’m left with nothing but your makeup  
On my pillow_

_And I can’t sleep, the pills they never helped  
Tried counting sheep, still hurts like hell  
I can’t believe this rose has lost its red  
And its petals_

_Who put that rock in your chest, won’t you tell me?  
If I said I wished you the best, I was lying_

_Waking up just brings me down  
‘Cause every morning you are nowhere to be found  
And my bed is half empty not half full  
I’d rather live with broken bones  
Then lay here all on my own like a lovesick fool_

Sam interrupted Sebastian's singing. "Dude, when you said you had some new love songs, I thought you meant happy ones." Sebastian barely looked up at his friend from the keyboard. The blonde was standing beside his guitar, already plugged into its amp.

Across the room, Abigail was laying on Sam's unmade bed, twirling her drumsticks idly in her fingers. Her head was hanging over the bed's edge, her purple hair puddling on the floor beneath her. Her eyes were focused on Sebastian, though, concern written across her face. "Yeah, Seb," Abigail said, sitting up. "That's not a love song. That's a heartbreak song. Big difference."

Sebastian shrugged, stuffing his hands into his hoodie's pocket. "I'm not feeling the others," he said quietly, looking down at his lap. 

Sam reached over the music stand attached to Sebastian's keyboard and snatched his tattered notebook up. "Well, let us at least read them. We can decide if they're any good or not." Sam turned a page. "What about this one? _Kick me when I'm down, Keep me on the ground_... You haven't let us hear this one." Sebastian lurched off his stool and ripped the notebook from his friend's hands. Sam stared at him, then held his hands wide when he saw the look on Sebastian's face. "Whoa, sorry. I didn't know this was a touchy subject. Just wanted to know what we had to work with for our set list."

"I'm not happy with the others," Sebastian said sharply. He tossed the notebook behind him. He did not want to think about the new songs he had written over the past month. Not after the last few days. He had written several songs about or for Eva, but when he thought about them, his stomach twisted and soured. The song Sam had begun reading was a song Sebastian had written shortly after Demetrius had kicked him out. It was better than the love songs he had been working on, but Sebastian did not feel like feeling the emotions it would stir up. A numbness had fallen over him, finally taking away the hurt of the past few days, and Sebastian wanted to stay numb. It was better than feeling.

He saw Sam and Abigail exchange a look as he settled back into his seat. Sam turned back to him, rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was nervous. “The concert is only two weeks away,” Sam said. “We need to decide on the set list and really practice it.”

“You don’t seem like you’re happy with anything,” Abigail added. 

Sebastian shrugged. “We have our old set list. What’s wrong with that?” He ignored Abigail’s comment entirely. 

His two friends heard the brittle edge in his voice. “Nothing,” Sam said, once again glancing at Abigail. She only shook her head in warning and rose to take her seat behind the drums in the corner. Sebastian pretended he hadn’t seen the gesture. He barely heard Sam call out the title of a song and Abigail count them into the song’s intro. Sebastian’s fingers flew over the keys, playing notes that his voice matched as he sang his way through the familiar lyrics of the first song, then the next, and each of the following songs. If Sam and Abigail frequently looked at each other with concerned, knowing looks, Sebastian acted like he hadn’t noticed. He was just glad they were not asking him what was wrong. He was just glad they had said nothing about the dark circles under his eyes and the large thermos of coffee he had carried into Sam's room that morning. Sebastian had barely slept since his falling out with Eva. He had not realized how quickly he had gotten used to sleeping with Eva at his side, how easily he had found comfort in her presence. His old insomniac habits had come rushing back up, leaving him grumpy and exhausted. Sebastian pushed it all out of his mind and tried to focus on the music he played. Music had always been his passion, the one thing that brought him a comforting escape from his life. 

Now, the notes felt flat. Sebastian thought his voice sounded mechanical as he sang. The music sounded wrong after the days of crushing silence between him and Eva.

Sebastian's fingers stuttered on the keys. He realized he had stopped singing. Sam and Abigail were watching him carefully, no longer playing their instruments, wary concern on their faces. Sebastian ducked his head, his hair covering his face. He wanted to put his face in his hands and scrub his itching eyes, hard, until he pushed his eyeballs down into the hollow pit now inside him, just beneath the blank stretch of skin over his heart. Instead, he stuffed his hands back into the pocket of his hoodie. When had his life become centered on Eva? Sebastian had spent days trying to pinpoint that moment and had not found the answer. All he knew was he felt as if the center of his life had been ripped away, leaving him empty and crumbling. 

“Hey, Sebby,” Abigail said, standing from behind the drums and moving to stand at his shoulder. She dropped a hand onto his arm. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Sebastian breathed. 

“Did something happen with Eva?” Abigail asked.

Sebastian shifted out from under her hand. “Why would you ask that? There’s nothing between us.”

Sam pulled his guitar’s strap over his head and set the instrument onto its stand. “You finally asked her out, and she said no, didn’t she?”

“No,” Sebastian answered, rising. He bent to retrieve his notebook from the floor behind him. “I didn’t ask her.”

“Why not?” Sam asked, throwing his hands wide. “She’s obviously into you, dude.”

Abigail shot him a hard look. “Read the room, Sam," she hissed. 

Sebastian stuffed the notebook into the backpack he had carried to Sam’s house. “No, she’s not, Sam. She made that clear.” He slung the backpack’s straps onto his shoulders. “I don’t want to talk about it. See you guys later.” Sebastian brushed past Abigail, strode past Sam, who called after him "What about your keyboard?", and wrenched the door open. 

The air was cold when he walked out the front door, cold enough to steal Sebastian’s breath for a second. Sebastian pulled a cigarette and his lighter from his coat pocket, lighting the cigarette as he walked away. Snow crunched beneath his boots as he walked. Another front had come through the night before, adding several more inches of snow and further muffling all sound. Sebastian shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket and trudged toward the beach. All he wanted was to hear the crash of waves. Something to fill the silence Sebastian now realized was coming from inside himself. Sebastian was looking down at his feet when he reached the bridge over the river. A voice ahead of him called out his name. He looked up to find Demetrius approaching, notebook under one arm. Sebastian huddled deeper into his collar and hood, turning on his heel. His stepfather was one of the last people he wanted to deal with now.

"Sebastian," Demetrius said again, his tone firmer this time. "Can we talk?"

Sebastian turned back to face his stepfather then. "What, now? Why?"

"Because there are some things we need to discuss and sort out," Demetrius answered, approaching him. The man stopped a few feet away, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly. "Your mom has us all seeing a family counselor. It's helped."

Sebastian shrugged. "Good," he replied. He started to turn away again.

Demetrius scowled at him briefly. "I think she would appreciate it if you came to a session or two. With me."

"We already tried that," Sebastian answered. "Nothing changed." Demetrius opened his mouth to speak, but Sebastian cut him off. "You got what you wanted. I'm gone. I'm not your problem anymore. Why do you care all of the sudden?"

"I made a mistake, Sebastian," Demetrius said. "I'd like to fix it."

"You can't fix it!" Sebastian shouted. He pulled his hands from his pocket and tossed his cigarette to the side. "Once you kick someone out, there's no going back. And I'm not one of your pet projects. I'm not some broken thing you can take apart and put back together. I'm not something to fix."

Demetrius's mouth hung open and he shook his head. "That's not how I see you, Sebastian."

Sebastian scoffed. "Really? Then why did you spend years trying to change me? Why did you always compare me to Maru? Why did you act like you were never interested in me?"

"I'm not a perfect parent," Demetrius said quietly. "I know that. I made mistakes. But I was trying. I am still trying. You stopped trying years ago, Sebastian. All I'm asking is for you to try too. Don't walk away from your family like your father did."

The mention of his father sent a hot crack running through the numbness that had settled over Sebastian."I did try," he answered hotly. "I spent years trying. I was never good enough for you. No matter what I did, what I gave up, nothing, I was never good enough. All I wanted was a father who didn't leave and all I got was a stepfather who was disappointed. I wanted your approval, Demetrius, but I realized I would never get it. So I stopped trying." Sebastian took a deep breath, then turned around. He pulled another cigarette from the pack and his lighter from his pocket. He began to light it, then looked over his shoulder at the man behind him. "Look, you can stop trying. I stopped caring a long time ago." He lit the cigarette and began walking away.

"Then why are you so angry?" Sebastian stopped and half-turned. Demetrius was looking at him with concern and sadness across his face. The man shook his head, then softly said, "If you didn't care, you wouldn't be so angry. With me. With your father. It wouldn't hurt like that if you really didn't care."

Sebastian looked away, letting his hair fall back over his face. He muttered, "Whatever," and walked away. Demetrius did not call after him again. Sebastian did not look back. He just walked, his head down against the bitter winter wind, and smoked. When he reached the Stardrop, Sebastian slumped against the building's side. He sank down to the ground, the bare gravel around the saloon cold and hard beneath him. Sebastian let his head thump back against the brick, then dropped his face into his hands. Demetrius's words had broken through the numbness. Every emotion he had refused to feel, refused to acknowledge, came rising back up. Sebastian felt tears slip from eyes. He let them. He felt alone. Abandoned. By his father. By Demetrius. By Eva. Sebastian sat against the Stardrop and silently cried.

He thought about leaving. He pictured himself going back to Mistwood Farm, packing the most important of his things, and driving to the city. Just him and his motorcycle, like he had always planned. No goodbyes. It would be easier that way. He could leave all the pain, all the loneliness, all of it, behind and never face it again. 

When Sebastian finally looked up again, he found fresh snow falling once more. He pushed himself to his feet and wiped his face. He should have left Pelican Town long ago. Sebastian squared his shoulders and took a step away from the saloon wall. Movement from the front window of the general store caught his eye, bringing him to a halt. Abigail's mother, Caroline, was placing a Winter Star bouquet in the center of the display. Sebastian watched her fuss over the poinsettas and white roses for a moment, then started across the town square toward the store's door. The sight of the flowers chased every thought of leaving without a word from his mind. I'm not my father, Sebastian thought to himself as he stepped into Pierre's. A little bell jingled above his head. Caroline greeted him with a little smile before turning back to arranging the flowers. Sebastian strode toward the refrigerated display of cut flowers. He had never given Eva a reason to believe in him. He had never told her how he felt about her. In her mind, everything between them had been casual - worse, temporary. She still believed he was leaving town the first chance he got. Eva did not know he had stayed for months just to remain close to her. She had no idea his notebook was full of songs he had written about her. Sebastian picked a bouquet of yellow roses, the kind with pink edges. Orange lilies and a blue flower Sebastian didn't know filled out the bouquet, with sprigs of eucalyptus rising from the blooms. It looked like a bouquet Eva would like. Sebastian stood in front of the flower display for a moment longer. He would tell her. He would tell Eva he loved her. Maybe it was not too late to fix this one part of his life. He paid for the bouquet and tucked it gently inside his coat when he stepped back outside, hurrying back towards Mistwood Farm. 

The farmhouse was still silent when he stepped inside. Sebastian called out Eva's name. When she did not answer, he checked the upstairs loft, finding it empty save a dozing Naru sprawled on the bed. Her work boots and coat were missing from beside the front door. Sebastian went back out onto the porch, then followed the footprints he had not noticed before. They lead him to the sheds near the river. The sound of splitting wood and the thwack of an axe reached him from around the corner as he walked closer. 

Sebastian rounded the edge of the shed, finding Eva chopping firewood. Her face was flushed with exertion and the cold. She had discarded her coat and scarf, both laying across the nearby orderly stack of firewood. The bruises on her neck were an ugly purple, fading to a sickly yellow-green at the edges. Eva glanced at him as he leaned against the shed's corner, then looked back at her work. Sebastian took a deep breath. "Can we talk?" he asked. Eva sniffed and nodded stiffly, not looking at him. She did not stop her work, either. "Without the axe?" Sebastian pressed. That made her look up. "You tend to throw things when you're angry," he stated, half-shrugging.

"I'm not angry with you," Eva said quietly. She tossed the axe into the snow and turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. Before Sebastian had the chance to speak, she asked, "You're leaving, aren't you?" Her voice, still scratchy from the damage to her throat, sounded raw.

"Eva, I--"

Eva sank onto the chopping block and let her head hang low. "I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm so sorry, Sebastian. I don't know why I said that," she said, interrupting the beginning of the speech Sebastian had prepared on the walk back. She pressed her hands against her face, then shook her head. "No. That's not true. I do know why." Eva looked up at him. Sebastian realized her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying. "I had my whole life planned out, and it's like I'm watching it slowly slip away. Every dream, every goal, further and further from my grasp. The war is ending and I can finally go back home. The one thing I have wanted more than anything for years. But, now, Gotoro doesn't feel like home anymore." She shook her head. "I look in the mirror, and underneath all the confidence, the pretension, the attitude... I'm lost. I'm not an archeologist. I'm not a historian. I'm nothing I dreamed or planned I would be. I feel like I'm nothing. I look in the mirror and I don't know who I am anymore. But, then, with you, it all stopped mattering. I stopped feeling like I was a failure, like I needed to be more than just me. I stopped looking toward the horizon and feeling homesick. I feel like I'm finally home. You feel like home to me."

Sebastian blinked, trying to process her rapid-fire words. "Then why did you push me awa--" he began to ask. 

She cut him off again. "Because I'm terrified of that feeling. I've been strong for so many years, only relying on myself, I'm terrified of taking off that mask, letting someone close to me. I'm terrified of being vulnerable. And I'm not sure I remember how to be just me, without that mask, anymore. That's why I pushed back that night. I felt weak and pitiful and pathetic, everything I'm not supposed to be. And you didn't care. You still looked at me like you always have. And I was afraid of what that meant."

"You were afraid of opening up," Sebastian said, nodding. "Opening yourself up to the chance I'd hurt you." Sebastian understood. That very fear had kept him from asking her out under the streetlamp. Never once had he thought that Eva's occasional aloofness meant she was struggling with the same fear.

"Yes," Eva breathed. The word clung to the air in front of her. She braced her arms on her knees, staring at the snow beneath her feet. Silence hung between them for several moments. Then, Eva straightened, rising to her feet. "I understand why you want to leave," she said, her voice once again guarded and clipped. Her accent made the words feel sharper. But, Sebastian heard the brittleness in them, now that he knew to listen for it. Eva bent to retrieve her axe. 

"I don't want to leave," Sebastian said. When she turned to look at him again, he pulled the bouquet from beneath his coat. "That's what I wanted to tell you," he said, offering the bouquet to her. He ignored the fact his hand was shaking. Sebastian took a deep breath and let the words tumble from him, prepared speech be damned. "I should have told you months ago. I love you, Eva, and I don't want to walk away from this." Eva dropped the axe and pressed her gloved fingertips to her mouth, taking a tentative step closer to him. Sebastian pressed on. "I've been wanting to ask you out since summer. But, I was afraid to. I don't… I don't trust people. Too many important people have walked away or given up on me. I was afraid you would too." He closed the space between them, still holding the bouquet out. Sebastian took another deep breath, then asked, "Eva, can we start again? Will you go out with me?"

Eva huffed out a hoarse laugh, even as tears slipped from her eyes. She took the bouquet from his hands and cradled he flowers against her chest. "After what I said, you still want me?" she asked in a quiet, small voice.

Sebastian wrapped his arms around her in answer, letting his head rest against the top of hers. "More than anything," he answered. "You feel like home to me, too." He pressed a kiss onto her forehead. Then, he just held her as the snow fell around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs referenced, in order: "Lovesick Fool" by The Cab, and "I'd Rather See Your Star Explode" by Slaves.


	12. Chapter 12

> So many people are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you were interested in them.  
> -Sylvia Plath

Eva had hated winter in Zuzu City. The sharp wind blowing down the streets had always made it harder to walk to work or the corner store. The idea of snow had always been romantic in Eva’s mind. There was nothing romantic about snow covered garbage, though. The snow that fell in the city turned to grey and brown slush within the hour. Any snow that did not melt could hide a grate in the road, just past the curb or in the sidewalk, a major hazard for someone who wore heels every day - someone like Eva. The salt the maintenance crews spread across the roads and sidewalks constantly threatened the finish of her car and ruined her expensive shoes. Eva had hated everything about the winter season.

Until winter had fallen over Mistwood Farm. 

Eva huffed a silent laugh to herself, the air clouding in front of her as she walked back toward the farmhouse. Maybe her burgeoning love of the season had more to do with the man walking at her side than the season itself. Sebastian had joined her for her morning chores. That had surprised Eva. When she had woken to find a new four inch layer of snow on the ground, she had expected Sebastian to remain in bed, even though it was already mid morning when she had finally rolled out of bed. Instead, he had gotten up with her, pressing a kiss on her forehead as she dressed, and offered to help. “The sooner you’re done, the sooner you can get back in bed with me,” he had said with a grin. Eva had answered with one of her own. The idea sounded wonderful. Eva thought about just how better life was, now that she and Sebastian had worked through things two weeks ago, while they gathered eggs from the chicken coop. The easiness and companionship that had been between them had returned, almost as if it had never stuttered. They had easily fallen back into the rhythm and flow of living together, moving almost effortlessly around and with one another. Sebastian’s music once again filled the farmhouse as he practiced for the band’s upcoming gig. He had even let her hear the songs he had been working on. Well, not all of them. Eva knew he was holding one or two back. She found she did not care. Eva was curious, to be sure. But, she was just happy to have things back to normal between them. At night, Sebastian was at her side in bed. Every night. Eva had already begun to wonder how she had ever been able to sleep without his comforting presence pressed against her back. Life felt… right. Like the way it was supposed to be.

“What?” Sebastian asked, glancing sideways at her. 

Eva shook her head. “Nothing,” she muttered, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked. “I’m just happy.”

Sebastian shifted the basket of eggs and fresh vegetables from the greenhouse to the other hand, then wrapped an arm around her. “I’m glad,” he said quietly, leaning his head against hers. 

They remained like that as they crossed the fallow fields of the farm toward the house. Eva’s steps slowed when she spotted the yellow taxi pulling away from the house, driving slowly along the stacked stone walls she had recently finished building around the fields’ perimeter. Her heart quickened. She flicked her gaze up to the porch and found a tall man in a military dress coat standing at the front door, knocking. A battered suitcase sat beside his feet. “Daddy,” she breathed. 

He was early. He had promised to visit, once the peace talks between the Gotoro Empire and the Ferngill Republic had ended, but those talks were not scheduled to begin until next week. Eva had been counting down the days for weeks as she prepared the spare room at the back of the house. Eva looked over the man again, not fully believing it could be her father. But it was. There was more grey in his hair at the temples than she remembered, but he still stood straight and tall, with his shoulders perfectly squared like a soldier. A sword hung at his left hip, though Eva could tell from the gold tassel swaying from the hilt it was his parade saber, not the scarred weapon he carried into battle. Eva moved away from Sebastian, her breath catching in her throat. A pressure began to build behind her eyes. “Daddy!” she squealed and took off at a sprint for the porch. 

***

Sebastian stood, stunned, as Eva bolted for the farmhouse porch. He had rarely heard her squeal. Eva would quietly squeal under her breath when reading or watching a movie, sometimes, but never truly out loud. He blinked at the scene unfolding before him. The man at the door turned. A wide, bright smile split his face when he saw Eva rushing toward him. “Queenie!” he called back. He hurried down the porch steps and caught Eva as she hurtled into him. When Eva wrapped her arms around him, her father enveloped her in a tight hug, one that nearly lifted her from the ground. Then, Sebastian smiled and approached. Eva’s father looked up and smiled at him. “Hello, Sebastian,” he said. His voice was deep, with a gravelly tone beneath the same clipped, posh accent Eva had. Urso Lang released his daughter to extend a hand to Sebastian. “It is a pleasure to get to meet you in person.”

Sebastian shook the man’s hand. “Same, sir.”

“You’re early,” Eva said, one eyebrow arched. “I was not expecting you to be here before the peace talks.”

“I’m not,” her father answered, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Eva had apparently inherited that glint from him, Sebastian thought. “The peace talks were held last week, in quiet seclusion, to keep any outside influence and media pressure from interfering. Officially, the talks will happen as publicly announced next week, but only the most prominent players will be required to attend, and only for photo ops. Which means I could surprise you.”

“You know I don’t like surprises,” Eva stated.

Her father laughed. “I seem to vaguely remember something like that, yes.” He grabbed her and pulled her back into a hug, causing her to laugh. “I hope you won’t hold it against me and refuse to let me stay for Winter Star,” he said, looking down at her with a repressed smile. 

Eva rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove. “Oh, I suppose you can stay. It’s not like I’ve made up a room for you or anything.”

Her father gave a whoop of joy. Then, he looked at Sebastian. “And do I have your permission to stay as well, Sebastian?”

Sebastian blinked at the question. “It’s not my house,” he managed to say.

“That’s not what I hear,” the man said. “This is just as much your home as Eva’s.” He looked back at Eva. “Or am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong,” Eva said. She pulled herself from her father’s embrace. “We haven’t had breakfast yet." 

Her father raised an eyebrow at her. "You haven't had breakfast? It's almost lunchtime, Queenie. That's not like you," he said in a teasing tone, glancing sideways at Sebastian. Sebastian ducked his head, letting his hair hide his face. 

Eva swatted her father's arm and sniffed haughtily. "I’ll start making waffles,” she said. Sebastian watched her disappear into the house.

Her father was looking at him. Sebastian swallowed. Urso Lang was tall, much taller than Sebastian was. His grey eyes were far more piercing than they had been over video calls. There was a weight behind his gaze that made Sebastian feel small and nervous. The sword at his side did not help. Neither did the pistol Sebastian could see beneath the man’s coat. Eva’s father said, “I only ask to ensure I was not interrupting any special plans you might have. I can certainly go sight-seeing if I need to be scarce for a few hours.” Then, he winked. Sebastian stumbled over words in an attempt to answer him. The man saved him from having to master his tongue by lifting a hand and smiling. “Just let me know if I’m in the way, Sebastian. Let’s go eat waffles, shall we? I love waffles.” Then, he turned and climbed the steps, lifted his suitcase from the porch, and went inside. Sebastian remained standing in the snow for a moment, stunned once again. He had not expected Eva's father to be so approving of their relationship. Most of Pelican Town had been quietly gossiping about their relationship and how Sebastian lived at Mistwood Farm with Eva, for months, even before there was anything more than friendship between them. Sebastian shook his head, telling himself to not get his hopes up, and went inside. 

The three of them ate a late breakfast together. Eva and her father did most of the talking, Sebastian content to listen as they caught up and reminisced. After he had finished his waffles and bacon, he excused himself and went to work, giving father and daughter space. He knew how much Eva loved her father, and how much she had missed him over the last few years. Part of him wanted space from their warm relationship as well. As he sat down at his desk and listened to their laughter, Sebastian admitted that it hurt to see the loving relationship Eva had with her father. Sebastian could not remember what his own father looked or sounded like. He didn't even know what having a close relationship with a father would feel like. He turned on some music and did his best to shove those feelings of longing aside. 

When the evening came around, Sebastian left his room -- it was more an office with a bed now. He never slept there anymore and he had already begun to move his clothes upstairs. It had been oddly comforting to see his mostly black clothes nestled into drawers alongside Eva’s colorful ones. Sebastian thought about how Eva’s father had gently insisted that this was Sebastian’s house, too. Maybe the man was right. 

Eva’s father was standing in the kitchen with Eva, a cup of coffee in his hand as Eva began prepping dinner. Sebastian moved to join her and soon they were cooking dinner - Robin’s spaghetti recipe and a fresh garden salad using the vegetables from the greenhouse - together. Her father took a seat at the table to give them space and idly rubbed Naru behind one ear. The black cat purred loudly. “I’m impressed, Sebastian,” Urso said. “You can cook.”

“I’m decent at it,” Sebastian answered, tossing the pasta and sauce together. "Not as good as Eva," he added, flashing a grin at the woman beside him. Eva returned the smile and gently bumped her hip against his. 

“Better than I can say,” Urso stated. “I’ve gotten used to having my meals made for me in the mess halls.”

“He’s terrible at it,” Eva said in a loud stage whisper. Her father tossed the cloth napkin from his place setting at her back. Eva snatched it up from the floor and hurled it back at him, sending Naru skidding from the kitchen. Sebastian laughed. Apparently, Eva had inherited throwing things from him. 

Dinner was lively that evening. Sebastian had thought Eva’s tongue was sharp. Her father’s was even sharper. His wit was quick, and between him and Eva, there was nothing safe or sacred. They flung good-natured jabs at each other, mocking one another in a way that made the loving bickering between Eva and Sebastian look like nothing. Sebastian laughed at them until his sides hurt. At one point, he asked, “Are all Gotorans like this?” Both Eva and her father answered, “Yes.” Urso chuckled and added, “If you haven’t noticed, Sebastian, Gotoro’s national pastime is offending other nations and starting wars. It would only make sense that our humor would be responsible for at least half of those conflicts.” In the middle of their teasing, Urso would talk to Sebastian, asking him questions about his work, his family, his hobbies. Sebastian was surprised -- and a bit unnerved -- when the man gave him his full attention, often asking further questions and engaging in a full conversation about Sebastian’s interests. The two of them discussed the tactics and combat mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons for nearly twenty minutes, Eva’s father seemingly fascinated by the tactical complexity the game was capable of. He also grew visibly excited when he learned the Squid Kids would be performing in two days, asking if he could attend the concert.

When dinner was finished, Eva’s father helped them both clear the table and load the dishwasher. Sebastian excused himself to go outside and smoke, thinking he should give Eva more time with her father. He was surprised when the front door opened and Urso stepped onto the porch with him, holding a wooden pipe in his hand. The man leaned against the post opposite the stairs from Sebastian and lit his pipe. He took a deep breath, then released it in a long, contented sigh, blowing fragrant smoke into the air before him. “You two have made a good life here,” he commented. Sebastian watched him take in the darkened land of the farm. Then, he turned his piercing gaze on Sebastian. “It’s good to see my daughter so happy, both here and with you.”

Sebastian glanced warily at him. The man had on his dress coat, but his pistol and sword were now gone, as was the military uniform that he had been wearing underneath. It did little to make the man less intimidating, though. Sebastian glanced inside, looking through the front door's window. Eva was wiping down the kitchen counters, singing to herself. He did catch her quick look outside. When she saw him looking at her, she flashed him a smile and a wink, then deliberately turned away. Sebastian took a hard drag on his cigarette, steeling himself, then said to Urso, “If this is the part where you threaten me if I break your daughter’s heart, can we get it over with?”

The man blinked at him. “And why would I threaten you?”

“Isn’t that what fathers do to their daughter’s boyfriends?”

Urso chuckled. “Is that true? I thought that was just some trope from the movies.” He took another pull on his pipe. “ What would I even threaten you with?”

“You were wearing a sword and a gun earlier.”

“That sword is mostly for decoration.”

“Mostly,” Sebastian pointed out.

Urso gave him a half shrug. “It hardly has an edge to it. I guess I could bludgeon someone with it.” Another fragrant cloud filled the air between them. “Why would you think I was going to threaten you?”

It was Sebastian’s turn to shrug. “Like I said, that’s kind of expected. Plus, you are the Imperial General of the Gotoran Airforce.” Sebastian was surprised by how calmly he said it. It was not a fact that should have sounded calm. He was standing near one of the most powerful soldiers in the world. 

Sebastian watched the man’s response carefully. Urso turned to him fully, his eyes wide. “Eva has kept that secret for years. I’m surprised she told you.” The man did not seem displeased by that idea. In fact, he seemed pleased by the idea.

“She didn’t,” Sebastian admitted, shaking his head. “I saw the medals on your jacket on a video call, after the _Keening_ was shot down. My friend’s father is in the military. I know your average soldier doesn’t have that many medals. And only officers get swords.” Sebastian took a breath, then said, “I was curious. I realized Eva was being cautious when she talked about what you did in the military. I knew your name, so I looked you up. I found a news article about the _Keening_ ’s launch. There was a picture of you, with Eva when she was a teenager.”

Urso regarded him for a long moment. His gaze was focused and heavy, enough that Sebastian suddenly regretted saying he knew just who the man was. “How did you find that article?” Urso asked casually. “Gotoro blocks most internet inquiries from other countries.”

Sebastian suddenly pictured life in a Gotoran gulag. A shudder ran down his spine. “I used a Gotoran VPN,” Sebastian simply stated, trying to match Urso's casual confidence. He took another long pull on his cigarette to cover his nervousness. 

The man laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t even know what that is, but I’m impressed. Eva said you were good with computers.” His smile faded slightly. “Yes, I do command the Imperial Airforce. But, that does not explain why you expected me to threaten you for dating my daughter.”

Sebastian took another deep breath, then another drag of his cigarette. He exhaled, answering, “It would if I wasn’t good enough for Eva.”

Urso’s face was blank for a moment. Then a line formed between his eyes and he stood up straighter. “One,” he said, holding up a finger. “I have no need to threaten any man involved with Eva. She can take care of herself. Two--” He held up a second finger. “I trust her judgment. If she believes you are good enough for her and good for her, then I have no issue with you.” He held up a third finger. “Three, I do not think you are unworthy of her. There’s quite the evidence to the contrary.”

“What evidence?” Sebastian asked. “I don’t have a career. I work from home. I don’t have a degree. I’m not--”

Urso held up a hand. “Let’s stop there, shall we?” He gave Sebastian a stern, but loving look. “You are a programmer. Self-taught, correct?” Sebastian nodded. “You are a freelancer. Eva has talked about how many hours you work some weeks. It takes a lot of discipline and self-mastery to teach yourself such a technical skill, enough so you can stand on your merits alone. It takes a lot of discipline to be your own boss, manage your own work hours, and promote your abilities, as freelancing requires. That alone would be impressive to me.”

“I’m in a band,” Sebastian said, sweeping one hand to gesture to his all black clothes and the tattoo peeking out from under his sleeve.

“Where you play an instrument, also self-taught, and sing,” Urso stated. “You write the music the band performs. Also without any formal education.” The man once again held up a hand to stop Sebastian from speaking. “You are talented, Sebastian. And even without all of that, Eva loves you. You make her happy. I don’t think you realize just how happy. I have never seen her this content in her life. That fact alone means I approve of you. Everything else is just extra. I am impressed with you, young man. I am also excited to get to know you, to discover everything about you my daughter loves so much.” Sebastian stared at the man. The way Urso had said those words… Sebastian felt approval rippling off the man, a fatherly pride Sebastian had never thought he would feel. He wanted to hug the man. Instead, he sniffed, pulling his eyes away and looking down at the porch floor. There were tears forming in his eyes and he did not want Eva’s father to see. 

Urso crossed the space between them and dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder. He softly said, “Do not dismiss yourself so quickly, Sebastian. I do not know what event or person caused you to disapprove of yourself this way, but never downplay your worth. If anything, oversell it.”

“Spoken like a true Gotoran,” Sebastian said, quickly drawing his hand across his face to dry his eyes. 

Urso laughed. “Yes, overconfidence is a national trait of Gotorans. I’m sure living with Eva has taught you that much.”

Sebastian began laughing too. “You have no idea.”

Eva’s father squeezed Sebastian’s shoulder, then let go. He tamped out his pipe and tucked it into his coat pocket with a shiver. “Now, I’m ready to go back inside. I cannot understand how you are out here in only a t-shirt.” Urso opened the front door and held it, warmly gesturing Sebastian in ahead of him. Sebastian tossed his cigarette into a bucket of sand Eva kept on the porch for him and walked inside, grinning to himself. 

*** 

The entire town showed up. 

Eva glanced around the venue, swirling the drink in her hand as she did so. She had not expected all of Pelican Town to come to support the Squid Kids in their first out-of-town performance. But they had. Evelyn had brought her knitting. George looked to be dozing in his wheelchair. Eva smiled at the elderly couple, thinking it was sweet of them to come out so late on such a cold night. Mayor Lewis was at a large round table with Marnie, wearing a bright yellow bowtie that matched the dress Marnie had worn. Jas was beside Marnie, dolls spread out across half the table. Little Vincent was in the chair beside the shy girl, bouncing up and down in his seat while Jodie tried to calm him. Eva huffed a quiet laugh at the boy. Powdered sugar coated his mouth and chin from the doughnut holes he had been eating during the first band's performance. Shane was at the next table, surprisingly with Penny. The quiet red-head had her elbows propped on the table, leaning forward as she listened to Shane talking. Shane was talking animatedly, waving the can of Joja Cola he was holding around as he spoke. Eva blinked at the scene. She had never seen Shane so social. She wasn't sure she had ever seen the man smile. But he was beaming at Penny, who was giggling behind a hand at something he had said. Eva wondered when that had happened.

A hand fell on Eva's shoulder. She turned to find Haley standing beside her. "Do you think it would be okay if I took some pictures during the performance?" the blonde asked. Her camera was in her hands. "For the town bulletin?"

Eva nodded. "I guess so," she answered. "Just maybe no flash."

Haley rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, duh. That would make everyone look awful." She turned on her heels -- a pair Eva had sold to her earlier in the year -- and returned to the table she shared with Alex, who looked to be polishing off a basket of pub mix.

Eva found Robin taking a seat at a table close by. The woman spotted her and waved, smiling brightly as she removed her heavy coat. Eva returned the greeting. Her father, seated beside her, leaned closer to speak over the dull roar of the crowd. "And who is that?" he asked into her ear. Eva had introduced him to many of her neighbors and friends earlier in the evening, as people arrived, and her father was doing his best to keep everyone's names straight. 

"Robin," Eva answered. "Sebastian's mother." She gestured to Maru and Demetrius, who were just now joining Robin at her table. "And that is his stepfather, Demetrius, and his half-sister, Maru."

"I would like to meet them, if I can," Urso said. He grinned at Eva. "It would be nice to have a warm relationship with the in-laws."

Eva elbowed her father, frowning dramatically. "Stop that," she gently commanded. "It's not that serious."

Urso arched an eyebrow at her. "Is it not?"

"Not yet," Eva replied, looking down at her drink. "And don't make comments like that around Robin, please," she added with a glare. Part of her did not want to talk about her relationship with Sebastian. While they had made up, while life felt wonderfully perfect, Eva was afraid it would fall apart under pressure or if she looked at it too hard. She was happy with where they were, what they had. She did not want to push things into a new territory before they were ready. She certainly did not want anyone else to push, either. 

Urso regarded her for a moment. Eva could tell he was trying to read her thoughts from the slight furrow in the center of his brow. "Would she not approve?" he asked.

Eva snorted into her drink, then took a sip. "Oh no, Robin would want to plan the wedding with you. She'd have everything ready in three days."

Her father laughed, hard and loud, leaning back in his chair. Eva smiled at the sound. She had forgotten just what her father's laugh had sounded like in the years they had been separated. He had not fully laughed during calls with her in years, the toil of the war dampening his humor. It was good to hear it again. 

The house lights began to dim. Eva turned back to the stage. The Squid Kids were taking their places at their instruments. Sam was performing a final tune check on his guitar, making tiny adjustments to the strings and knobs. Abigail was twirling her drumsticks. She looked at ease, but Eva had begun to learn the signs that showed when she was nervous. And Abigail was quite nervous tonight. Eva caught her eye and gave her a thumbs up. Abigail answered with a wide smile, tossing one drumstick into the air with a dramatic flourish. Eva smiled and turned to look at Sebastian, settling behind his keyboard, rolling his shoulders, and flexing his fingers. The stage lights came up to full brightness and the crowd quieted in anticipation. 

Sam introduced the band. Eva heard the catch in his voice as he spoke, saw him swallow hard. She knew how important this performance was to him. Beside her, her father straightened in his chair. Eva could feel his excitement radiating off of him. She leaned her head against him with a gentle bump. "Thanks for coming, Daddy," she said quietly.

Urso smiled and bumped his head against hers. "I wouldn't have missed any of this for the world, Queenie," he answered. "I'm glad I'm getting this time with you."

Eva frowned at his tone. "Why do you say it like that? Like you're not going to be able to see me more often? The war is over."

Her father straightened and gave her a sad smile. "You never know what will happen in Gotoro," he answered. 

"What do you know?" Eva demanded, gripping his arm. 

He patted her fingers. "I know my job asks difficult things of me, at times. Nothing more, Queenie." He pressed a kiss against her forehead just as the band began to play. Urso turned his attention to the stage, forcing Eva to abandon her questions. She sighed and turned to the stage as well, doing her best to not let her father's words overshadow the rest of the evening. 

The band opened with their song _Disturbia_. Eva leaned forward over the table as they played, one foot tapping out the beat of the song on the rung of her stool. She sang along with the song, her smile growing as she watched Sebastian sing and play. She loved the casual ease he slipped into when he was surrounded by music, when he got lost into his own music. A minute later, Eva realized she had stopped singing in favor of just staring at Sebastian. She wanted to roll her eyes at herself for it, but only smiled instead. Next, the band played through some of their old standby songs. The crowd cheered after each song, clearly enjoying the band's music. Eva smiled brighter, beaming at the stage with pride. 

Though, as they moved through their setlist, Eva started twisting her drink on the table. Sebastian had finally let her hear one of his newest songs days earlier. He had been working on it since Demetrius had kicked him out, and he had poured his heart and soul into the lyrics. All the hurt he had endured at Demetrius' hands and from the absence of his father had been contained in it. When Eva had heard it, she had sat on the couch fighting back tears. It was as if Sebastian had taken the broken pieces of his heart and crafted their sharp edges into a piece of art, and Eva had felt humbled that he had trusted her to hear it. She knew they would be performing it tonight, as the final song. As the current song ended, Eva glanced over to where Sebastian's family sat. Robin was clapping and cheering, her face bright. Eva saw Maru roll her eyes at her mother, despite the small grin on her face. Demetrius was also clapping. Eva was surprised the man had come. She was even more surprised to see him actively paying attention. A slight smile was on his face. Eva looked away as Sebastian began playing a complicated set of somber notes. She knew the song Sebastian was playing. Eva also knew Demetrius would not be smiling after it. 

The song began with only Sebastian's piano. Then, Abigail came in on the drums. When Sam came in with the guitar, the song burst into life, the hard rock's influence clearly heard. It was the most complicated song, music-wise, for each of them. Abigail was already giving her arms a workout and Sam's fingers were dancing along his guitar strings. Through it all, Sebastian's fingers were weaving a melancholy melody. The music calmed as they moved into the first verse and Sebastian began to sing. 

_Kick me when I'm down  
Keep me on the ground  
From the ones who I thought they would never leave  
Who gave you so much faith?  
Who gave you so much power?  
You turned it all against me_

Eva dared a glance over at Demetrius. The smile had indeed slipped from his face. 

_I'm feeling alive like it's the first time  
But you're going and you're going and you're gone tonight  
I'm feeling alive like it's the first time  
Never gonna be a part of me this time_

_I know you'll write me off  
I know you're always gonna count me out  
You think I'm gonna let you down?  
I know you'll write me off  
I know you're always gonna count me out  
You think I'm gonna let you down?  
Just wait, just wait, just wait_

Part of Eva felt satisfaction when Demetrius dropped his gaze from the stage. She watched him clasp his hands on the table's surface and stare at them. When Robin looked over, her smile gone as well, and placed a hand over her husband's, Eva felt a surge of sadness. That feeling got worse as Sebastian sang the lines _All I gave up, it's still not enough. You're twisting my demons like there is no love_. Demetrius looked back up at the stage, his eyes focused on Sebastian, and Eva saw tears begin to slide down his face. 

_Gonna show what I've got left  
You haven't even seen my best  
Just wait_

_All I gave up  
Still not enough  
Kick me when I'm down_

The chorus repeated one last time and Eva held her breath as Sebastian sang the final lines.

_Don't count me out  
Won't let you down  
I'm never gonna let you down_

As the final notes of the song ended, the crowd erupted into applause. Eva had to wipe a tear away from her cheek when she saw Demetrius rise from his chair, applauding even while tears were falling down his face. 

Eva sniffed, then turned to pull her purse from the back of her seat. She had just begun to stand when the band began playing another song. Eva stilled, looking up in surprise. Her father glanced at her with raised eyebrows. Eva shook her head as she slowly sank back down in her chair. "That was the last song," she said. Sebastian was looking directly at her, a small smile on his face as he played.

"Apparently not," Urso replied. "I thought you knew all of their songs?"

Eva did not have the chance to answer before Sebastian began to sing. 

_Some have their Bibles, and some go to church  
Well I found my heaven inside of her  
We only talked until believe  
Gotta find our destiny  
I've got her and she's got me_

_I see her when I close my eyes  
She's my only God in life  
Never gonna say goodbye_

_'Cause I see the stars in the freckles on her face  
And I'm seein' God every time she says my name  
So mother Mary, pray for me  
Without her I'm so lost  
Her love is my religion_

She was blushing. She could feel the heat in her cheeks. She could feel multiple sets of eyes on her. She could see Robin practically bouncing in her seat, watching her with her hands over her mouth. In that moment, Eva did not care about the stares or her blushing face. She was laughing. She was crying. She was giggling like a little girl. She was smiling so widely, her face was already aching. The entire time, Sebastian was wearing that little smile, glancing to where she was sitting. 

_Close my eyes and she's my dream  
She's the truth inside the world of lies  
Keeping all my hope alive  
Never going to say goodbye_

The song drew to a close and the music was drowned out by another wave of applause and cheers from the crowd, but it felt as if it still played in Eva's heart. Her father leaned over and said, in a teasing voice. "Not serious, you say?" Eva said nothing in answer. She didn't think she could speak without bursting into girlish giggles once more. Eva stood and pulled her purse strap onto her shoulder.

By the time she made her way out of the venue through the press of the crowd, her father close at her back, the band had cleared their instruments from the stage and were finishing packing them away into the town's bus. Pam, Penny's mother, was leaning against the side of the idling vehicle, smoking. Urso dropped a hand onto Eva's shoulder and squeezed it wordlessly before moving away. Eva watched him light his pipe and begin talking to Pam. He had the woman laughing at something within thirty seconds of him joining her. Eva chuckled under her breath. Her father had always been a people person, easily slipping from mingling with government officials and military elites to the lowest soldier or worker. She had always considered that talent to be the mark of a true leader. After a moment, Eva turned and walked to where Sebastian stood in the shadows, a cigarette hanging from his mouth as he searched for his lighter in his pockets. "Hey, you," he mumbled around the cigarette, finally pulling his lighter free. 

"Hey," Eva answered. She leaned against the side of the building and looked up at him. "You guys were great."

Sebastian smiled. "Thanks," he said. "Demetrius came and apologized immediately after the show." He paused, then added, "It sounded like he actually meant it. I… I may have said I'd go to one session with him and Mom, to clear the air." He lit the cigarette, blew a cloud of smoke, and turned to face her. "What did you think of the last song?"

Eva laughed, her grin returning in full force. "I loved it," she breathed. 

"Really?" When Eva glanced back up at his face, she found Sebastian searching hers carefully. "You really liked it?"

"No," Eva said. She laughed again as the hopeful expression on Sebastian's face began to fade, and quickly added, "I said I loved it. That's quite the important distinction." She stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around his middle. Sebastian dropped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. Eva felt him rest his chin on the top of her head and she grinned into his shirt. "I love you," she said softly. 

Sebastian was quiet for a long moment, long enough Eva began to think she had spoken too softly for him to hear. Then, he answered, "I love you too, Eva." They stood like that until Sebastian finished his cigarette and tossed it aside. He kept one arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the bus, which had brought most of the residents of Pelican Town to the concert. Pam was already finished with her smoke break and had climbed into the driver's seat. Eva's father was standing near the bus's doors, hands in his pocket as he smoked his pipe.

"Feeling better, Eva?"

Eva's heart shuddered to a halt at the voice behind her. She froze, her fingers tightening in the folds of Sebastian's jacket. She felt Sebastian's low growl as he recognized Mac's voice. Her heart resumed its beating, now thundering as she looked over her shoulder. Mac was standing on the sidewalk, his suit coat thrown over one arm. An older man in all black stood at his side. Eva spotted the Greyford mercenary company symbol on the man's jacket. Mac smiled at Eva and she shivered. Sebastian's arm tightened around her shoulder. Mac stopped at a respectable distance from them, nodding in greeting to Sebastian without taking his eyes off Eva. "I heard you had a sore throat a while back."

Sebastian growled out, "Keep walking."

Mac flashed him an innocent look and shrugged. "Just checking up on an old friend. What's wrong with that?"

Eva pressed herself tighter against Sebastian's side. 

Eva's father approached then, glancing between Eva and Sebastian and Mac and his companion. Eva could tell he was wary, reading the obvious tension between her and Mac. There was a questioning look in his eyes. Eva shook her head subtly. Her father nodded, a frown forming on his face. Eva knew he had seen the lingering bruises on her throat. The marks had faded to a light yellow, healed to the point she could hide the worst with concealer and a scarf. Her father had not asked about them, but she had seen him take note of them. At the time, Eva had been grateful he had not asked, not wanting to admit she had placed herself so recklessly in danger. Now, she regretted that he did not know the man responsible was only feet away. Eva wanted to hide. She wanted to run. She could not even organize the racing thoughts in her brain to chant her mantra of _be strong_ to herself. Whatever her father saw in her face, it was enough. His face was hard when he looked back at Mac. Enough that the man took a jittery step away. Then, Urso's gaze fell upon the man at Mac's side and he broke out into a surprised smile. "Havard, long time, no see."

The Greyford merc's face brightened and he immediately extended his hand, stepping forward. "Urso, it's good to see you. How are things on the other side of the pond?" Eva noticed the man was beginning to grey, much like her father. Havard had the same creases around his eyes as Urso did. He moved with a slight limp in his left leg, though the hitch in his step did not change the military-like posture and gait Havard had. 

Uros warmly shook the man's hand, putting himself between Eva and Mac. "Hopefully calmer now, without the war." He gestured to the symbol on the man's jacket. "You took up with those bastards, Havard? After how they kicked our asses in that one war game scenario that first year?"

Havard shrugged, shaking his head. "Well, when the army dumped me after a training injury, I had to find a job. Turns out there's only a few things I'm good at. Mercenary work was the only career where those skills are an asset, it seems." Havard chuckled. "You've done well for yourself in Gotoro, I hear. You had your own dirigible."

"Until your navy shot it down."

"Seems you made it out fine. We always said you'd outlive us all, you cold Gotoran bastard." 

Both men laughed warmly.

Mac, who had been frowning at the exchange, clearly displeased he was being left out, stepped forward and extended his hand. "A friend of Havard is a friend of mine. I'm Mac Smith, head of property procurement at Joja Corp." His mention of Eva's former position felt like a calculated inclusion. It was not lost on Urso. Eva's father shook his hand, though not as warmly as he had Havard's. Eva thought he may have squeezed Mac's fingers. Mac flinched, then flexed them at his side, when Urso dropped the handshake. 

Havard watched the exchange carefully, making note of the same things Eva had. He said, "Mac, this is Urso Lang, an old army buddy of mine, back when he fought for the Republic." Mac's eyes narrowed at the last name, his eyes flickering to Eva. Havard continued, "You just shook hands with the general of Gotoro's Imperial Airforce."

Mac's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He took a step back. "You're the Gotoran Airforce general?" he asked, his voice beginning to shake. He glanced against at Eva, then took another step away from Urso. "Lang, was it? You're Eva's father?"

Urso's grin was predatory when he turned to fully face the man. "I am. How do you know my daughter?" His voice wrapped around the last two words, the protective possessiveness clear. 

"We used to work together," Mac said, taking yet another step backwards. "She was my boss, actually, for a time. A great boss, too," he added, glancing at Eva. Eva stood straighter, pressing a hand against Sebastian's chest to ground herself. As long as Sebastian and her father were nearby, she told herself, she had nothing to fear from Mac. Her panicking fear stopped gibbering in her head. Mac continued his backward flight and swallowed visibly. "I, um, I'm glad you're feeling better," he said to Eva with a slight wave. "Havard, I just remembered I have some important paperwork back at the office. Heads will roll if I don't get it done by Monday morning. I won't be able to grab those drinks with you today. You understand."

Havard looked from him to Eva, then to Urso, then back. Then he shrugged and nodded. "I don't mind drinking alone," he said. He waved to Mac. "Good luck with that paperwork." They all watched Mac hurry away. When he had disappeared around the corner of the block, Havard looked at Eva and asked, "You're the 'bitch' that riled him up so much about a month back, aren't you?" His tone was far from insulting. It was more curious than anything.

Eva smiled wickedly and said, "I plead the fifth."

To her surprise, Havard threw his head back and laughed, long, loud, and deep. When he quieted, he said to Urso, "You trained your daughter well. She left that asshole unable to sit for a week. The boys appreciated the entertainment." He extended his hand and shook Urso's hand once more. "It was good to see you again, Urso, but the bottom of a bottle is calling me. Take care, old friend." Urso said his goodbyes and Havard continued down the sidewalk, whistling a tune to himself. 

Sebastian steered Eva toward the bus, her father falling into step beside her. "I don't know what that man did to you, Eva," he said, "but I don't like him." Urso then softly asked, "Want me to kill him?" Eva could tell from the tone in his voice that he was only half joking. Possibly less than half.

"Yes," Sebastian hissed.

Eva rolled her eyes. "No. I handled myself. I can do it again if need be." She elbowed both men in the ribs. "I don't need either one of you to protect me."

"I'll help you hide the body," Sebastian said over her head. 

Urso chuckled darkly. "And this is why I didn't feel the need to threaten you, Sebastian." He motioned for them to board the bus in front of him, then followed, taking a seat across the aisle from them. Eva smiled at him as she nestled back against Sebastian's side, the bus lurching into motion to take them home.

When Eva looked out the window to watch the lights of Zuzu City flash past, she realized something. She had called Pelican Town home for the first time in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs referenced, in order: "Disturbia" by The Cab (originally by Rihanna); "I'd Rather See Your Star Explode" by Slaves; "Her Love is My Religion" by The Cab.
> 
> I imagine the "Squid Kids" set list to be something like this:  
> "Disturbia" - The Cab  
> "Moon" - The Cab  
> "Animal" - The Cab  
> "Temporary Bliss" - The Cab  
> "La La" - The Cab  
> "I'd Rather See Your Star Explode" - Slaves  
> "Her Love is My Religion" - The Cab


	13. Chapter 13

> When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day leads you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.  
> Herman Hesse, Baume, Betrachtungen und Gedichte

The celebration grew quiet when the door slammed open. Everyone gathered in the new community center turned, finding Morris standing in the now open doorway. The Joja manager held a stack of crumbled papers in one fist. A wicked smile began to bloom across Eva's face. She was standing near the corner the _Squid Kids_ had occupied. The band had been playing music as a part of the very first Pelican Town Community Day. They had been taking a break from performing when Morris burst in. Sebastian was at Eva's side, an arm around her.

Mayor Lewis puffed out his chest, straightened his suspenders, and walked towards the man. "Morris, I see you got--"

Morris strode forward, shaking the papers in Lewis' face. "This is an outrage," he spewed. "When Joja's lawyers are done with this town, we'll own everything. You can't do this to me!"

"Well, the government did give us some kind of grant for all this. I don't think they'd have done that if they weren't supposed to." Lewis just smiled a little smile at the man, then looked to where Gunther, the museum director and librarian, stood. "Can we do this, Gunther?"

"We can, according to republic law," Gunther answered in a monotone drawl. He reached up to straighten his large hat, then said, "According to the Association of Antiquities, Pelican Town is now protected land, for the purposes of preserving historical and archaeological artifacts and ruins. Only those individuals or organizations with permission from the Association are permitted to drill, dig, excavate, or perform any other form of dirt removal from any land, public or private, for the purpose of discovering artifacts. All artifacts found in the process of otherwise permitted excavation or dirt removal must be turned in to the museum for inspection, by either myself or Miss Lang, under the supervision of Wizard Rasmodius, according to the Association's ruling."

Morris' face contorted in rage, turning a dark shade of purple. He opened and closed his mouth once, twice, a third time. His gaze fell on Eva. "You," he spat. "You're responsible for this, aren't you?"

Eva's smile grew sharper. "All I did was assist Gunther and Lewis with the necessary paperwork," she said innocently. It was the truth. Mostly. She had spent the winter months brushing up on archaeological law and advising the mayor and museum director of what grants and protections they could apply for on behalf of the town. The pictures she had taken in the mines had gotten the Association of Antiquities' attention. The ruins Joja had been drilling in were the first intact elven fortress ever discovered. The find had shaken the archaeological community across the Ferngill Republic. The news that Joja Corporation had kept the discovery to themselves in order to make a profit by selling dangerous artifacts to private defense contractors had forced both the AOA and the republic government to act quickly to shut down such operations. If Eva had been the source of the leak, having sent the stolen printed emails to major news outlets, to force the Association's hand, then she had done a little more than help with paperwork, sure. Not that anyone could prove that the emails had come from her. Sebastian had made sure of that. Eva glanced up at him now and found his bad boy grin on his face. He looked down at her and flashed her a quick wink. 

Morris threw the papers he held onto the floor in a fit of rage. "You, Miss Lang," he screeched. "You are a bitch."

Eva half-shrugged and nodded in agreement. "Of course I am. I did work Joja, after all." At her side, Sebastian threw his head back and laughed. 

Morris exchanged a few more heated words with Lewis, until Pierre stepped forward, threatening to box Morris across both ears. Eva decided she would pay a great deal of money to see Pierre lay Morris on the ground. Unfortunately, Lewis intervened and Morris stormed out of the community center. The townsfolk cheered at his retreating back, then returned to their celebration. 

Music began playing from the other side of the community center's main room. Mayor Lewis had turned on the jukebox and was leading Marnie onto the large expanse of hardwood floor to dance. Pierre and Caroline quickly followed their lead, joined shortly after by Robin and Demtrius. Sebastian's arm tightened around Eva. She looked up at him, planting her chin on his chest as she did. He smiled down at her. "Because of the grants you helped Lewis get for this, so the town could hire Mom to rebuild this place, Mom said they aren't having to worry about money anymore."

"I'm glad," Eva said. "She did a great job on it."

"Yeah, she did," Sebastian answered. He was watching his mother dance with Demetrius. "She's really happy," he said, nodding in her direction. "I can tell. She hasn't said anything, but I can tell she's happy we're having dinner over there once a week."

"As long as Demetrius remembers he's not always the smartest person in the room, your family is quite enjoyable," Eva said. 

Sebastian snorted. "Oh, I doubt Demetrius is going to forget that anytime soon. Not with you around." Sebastian bent to press a kiss against her lips. "You really are hell in heels," he said softly.

Eva smiled against his lips. "And you love me for it."

"Yeah, I do." He straightened, rubbing her arm before releasing her from his embrace. "Hey," he said, looking around suddenly. "What happened to those little creatures that lived here? Mom never talked about seeing them."

Eva answered, "I had Abigail help me wrangle them into the forest."

Sebastian stared at her. "Wait, _them_? There were more than one in here? How did you two manage that?"

Eva shrugged and smiled mysteriously. "I swore I would not tell." Not that there was much to tell. Abigail had "borrowed" a wire trap her father kept on hand to keep pests from the general store's storage rooms. Between the fresh fruit Eva had placed inside the trap and Abigail playing a haunting melody on her flute, the junimos were quickly caught in the cage. The surprising part was just how heavy the little creatures were. Eva and Abigail had struggled to carry the cage all the way to the Cindersap Forest. The junimos' wiggling and unhappy squeaks had made it even more difficult to transport them away from the community center without being noticed. They had released the creatures within a hidden bower, soothing their indignant chirps with more fruit and a bar of chocolate. None of that was a secret. Eva had sworn nothing to Abigail, actually. It had been her that had demanded secrecy. After both she and Abigail had somehow missed the edge of the pond and fallen into the water. Eva would never tell Sebastian she had fallen into a pond in the dark in the middle of the woods.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but dropped the subject. Instead, he asked, "You ready to go home? I'll help you finish your planting, if you want." 

Eva looked out the windows. It was already mid-afternoon and she had only planted half of her spring crops before she had walked to the community center for the grand opening ceremony. Part of her wanted to stay longer, to celebrate restoring another part of the town that she now considered her home. The other part of her wanted to finish the farmwork quickly so she could enjoy an evening at home with Sebastian, curled up on the couch with him and a good book. That part of her won out. "Let's go home," Eva said. 

Together, they walked out of the community center. Once outside, Sebastian lit a cigarette, then took Eva's hand in his as they crossed the town square. Eva tilted her head back as they walked down the dirt road that led to Mistwood Farm, letting the breeze and falling petals brush over her face. When she felt the sun warm her face again, Eva opened her eyes. She tugged on Sebastian's hand to pull him to a stop. He looked at her with a questioning expression, but said nothing. Eva leaned against his side and just looked out over the farmland. The wind blew through the trees, scattering white and pink petals around them as they stood. Eva listened to the sound of the world moving around her, and the fluttering feeling that sound caused in her soul. She had felt the same feeling when she had first laid her eyes on Mistwood Farm, a little over a year ago. She had not known what it was then. 

Now, she knew. It was the sound of the trees telling her soul it was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for joining me on this journey! It's been fun! I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you for all the kudos and comments. They have meant so much to me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking out my first ever AO3 work! I've been working on this idea for nearly a year and finally got the courage to do something with it. I do play with the mod Stardew Valley Expanded, and while I will try to keep details from that expansion mod in the background, there will be some mentions of some of the characters it adds. 
> 
> This chapter was partly inspired by the following songs: "Dracula", Bea Miller; "Look What You Made Me Do", Taylor Swift.


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